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Monkey Bay Wildlife Sanctuary P.O. Box 187 Belmopan, Belize Central America Tel: 011-501-820-3032 Fax: 011-501-822-3361 Click Here to Email Us |
Monkey Bay participates in partnerships with other conservation organizations to develop and implement programs that help conserve and sustain the biological diversity of Belize and Central America. These projects include and are not limited to the following.
Mesoamerican Biological Corridor Project
Monkey Bay participates by offering a three day Indian Creek Trail guided hiking experience from the sanctuary along the Sibun River and Indian Creek, through Manatee Forest Reserve to Five Blues Lake National Park. The trek allows two nights of tent camping in limestone karst terrain and care is taken to leave only footprints.
Monkey Bay is home of the Wildlife Care Center (WCC), a holding facility for rescued, orphaned and abandoned wild animals that often are kept illegally as pets. Established in 1998, WCC aims to repatriate animals that can survive in the wild. Other intended results of the work at WCC are raising public awareness of Belize’s wildlife protection laws and discouraging the acquisition and sale of wild animals as pets. The WCC is not open to the public but there are training and intern opportunities for students and conservation volunteers. For more information, contact WCC Director Ms. Robin Brockett via email at: wildlifecarecenter@yahoo.com Monkey Bay Green Iguana ProjectIn August 2004, Monkey Bay launched a new conservation project focused on the Green Iguana (Iguana iguana). Our sincere thanks go out to Zentei Kanto, the Japan Postal Workers Union, Tokyo, Japan, whose generous donation helped bring this effort to reality. The project is aimed at creating national and international awareness for the continued preservation of this threatened species through education and ecotourism.
The green iguana (reptile - lizard) is native to Central and South America as well as Antilles & Trinidad in the Caribbean region. These reptiles inhabit the low-lying areas of Tropical Forest and are always found near water. They thrive on 10 - 12 hours of sunshine a day with ideal temperatures ranging between 85/95F and high humidity. Over recent years, increased hunting, loss of habitat and illegal capture and export for the pet trade are continuing threats to their future well-being and survival. The female Iguana lays eggs only once a year, during the dry season. She becomes an easy catch for local hunters just before she lays her eggs; the eggs she carries are large and plentiful and slow down her movements, particularly when she repositions from the safety of the trees to the sandy beach to deposit her eggs. Fully grown females with eggs ‘being tastiest & most nutritious’ are favored by local hunters, providing a hearty meal for a hungry family. A female Iguana will lay as many as 50 eggs at one time. Her gestation period is 70 - 90 days and begins soon after the heavy ‘Iguana Rains’ usually in the middle of the dry season. The female Iguana abandons her eggs as soon as they have been laid and covered deep in the sand, never to return. The eggs take 8 - 10 weeks to hatch. In the wild the young are on their own. Fluorescent green in color, they stand out in the forest and become easy prey for snakes, birds and other predators. Combined with the human threat, their survival rate in the wild reach no higher than two to four hatchlings per clutch of 50. A baby iguana takes 2 years to mature to adulthood when females become reproductive. A mature Iguana can reach up to 6 feet in length and live a 13 - 20 year life span in the wild. The Monkey Bay Green Iguana project allows protective hatching and breeding in a managed, natural environment. At one year of age, young Green Iguanas are released into the wild in the 3300-acre combined protected Sanctuary and adjacent Monkey Bay National Park along the pristine Sibun River. Releases to other suitable protected areas in Belize are under consideration. PACT (Protected Areas Conservation Trust) acknowledges that around 42% of the country currently falls under legal protected status. Monkey Bay welcomes educational and study groups, researchers, volunteers and interns to participate in the project. Conservation Projects | Land Stewardship | FAQ | Contact Us |
