Welcome to Wildtracks in January 2024! We have been quiet over the last three years, with the pandemic and recovery keeping us extra busy - but now the Wildtracks Newsbrief is back!
Catching up with the Primates
Meet Sprout, our youngest Nursery monkey...a globally endangered Yucatan black howler monkey...
He was less than a week old when he was confiscated in January 2023 from youths who had killed his mother, and arrived at Wildtracks the same day. He is sadly one of two young howlers that arrived last year for this reason.
His chances of survival were greatly improved by our ability to put him in an intensive care unit for the first weeks, keeping him in a warm, stable environment. Incubators are one of the most important tools we have for ensuring we can do everything possible for young, sick or injured monkeys that come in to Wildtracks.
Sprout has just passed his first birthday. and has captured the hearts of all those who have worked with him and the other Nursery monkeys. His team of carers were asked to describe him in three words, and while most complained it was near impossible, here are their descriptions alongside their favourite photos of Sprout...
Sprout isn't the only monkey that has come in with a story - there are many more...
Since establishing the Primate Rehabilitation Centre in 2010, Wildtracks has worked with the Belize Forest Department towards ending the illegal captive trade of primates in Belize. Wildtracks provides a safe place for confiscated, surrendered and rescued primates, and prepares them for return to the wild. Between December 2010 and December 2023, Wildtracks has taken in 175 primates - 145 howler monkeys, 29 spider monkeys and 1 non-native primate, a white-faced capuchin. We work to return all rescued primates to the wild if at all possible...
INTAKES
'Intakes' - is the word used for monkeys that arrive at the Primate Rehabilitation Centre. Whether they are infants found and rescued, injured monkeys or confiscated illegal pets, all intakes have a story. Whilst the illegal pet trade in primates has declined significantly, every year there are two or three youngsters that are confiscated by the Forest Department. Past data provides an opportunity to identify 'hotspot' areas where increased outreach can prevent wild monkeys being captured in the future.
Many monkeys arrive mentally scarred from the abuse they have suffered. Some arrive too injured or ill to save. Most, however, are successfully rehabilitated and returned to the wild, and now form a growing population as part of the rewilding of Belize's North East Biological Corridor.
Why do monkeys in Belize need to come in for rehabilitation?
Looking at the statistics recorded since the establishment of the Primate Rehabilitation Centre, the primary reason for intakes is the confiscation of illegal pets. In Belize, it is illegal to own a monkey, or in fact any wildlife - wildlife is considered national patrimony. 102 monkeys (58.3% of all intakes) were either confiscated by the Forest Department, or surrendered by people who kept them illegally. A further 3 rescued in urban settings were considered to be escaped pets when caught, based on their behaviour.
35 (46.7%) were wild rescues - wild monkeys that were injured or found as abandoned infants and brought in for rehabilitation. A further 21 came in temporarily as translocations. These are monkeys that were trapped in small pockets of forest following deforestation in the surrounding area for agriculture, or that had been pushed into urban areas by forest clearance and were at risk from dogs, vehicles and youths with slingshots or pellet guns.
A small number (14) were born at the rehabilitation centre between 2010 and the end of 2023. Whilst every effort is made to ensure monkeys are released as sub-adults, any delays in releases (such as during Covid) can result in young being born at the Centre. As a policy, pregnant and nursing mothers are not released until the infant is near-weaning, to avoid stress.
2023 Primate Rehabilitation Statistics
Nine primates came into Wildtracks in 2023 - seven Yucatan black howler monkeys and two Central American spider monkeys. Three were illegal pet confiscations, two were surrenders - one was an infant howler monkey (Sprout) rescued from youths trying to sell it, the second was surrendered by a concerned citizen who had rescued an escaped illegal pet. The remaining four were howler monkey translocations - moving monkeys either from small pockets of forest isolated by deforestation, or rescuing individuals entering urban areas.
Measuring Reintroduction Success
Wildtracks released 86 howler monkeys into the Fireburn area (part of the North East Biological Corridor), between 2012 and 2023 through a carefully designed rehabilitation-reintroduction process. The howler monkey releases are part of an endangered species reintroduction programme. This has an exceptionally high success rate of 95% post-release survival through the first year, and with first and second-generation babies born in the wild to a flourishing re-introduced population at the release site in Fireburn - part of the rewilding of Belize’s North East Biological Corridor.
How do we know this? We invest in post-release monitoring to ensure we can track howler monkeys from the moment of release for the first two months - almost every day. We watch as they establish their territories and settle in to being wild monkeys, and use the information we learn to inform our next releases. We then continue to check in on them to ensure they are doing well during their first year. An assessment of the success of the reintroduction was conducted after the first five years through a field census of the population. 85% of the released monkeys were identified and doing well.
We are now back in the field for the 10-year census of Fireburn howler monkeys, identifying the troops and plotting their territories. This second census is being conducted under a permit from the Belize Forest Department and supported by a grant from Twycross Zoo. Alisha Huotari, from the University of Salford, joined us to lead the ten months of field survey work as part of her Master's thesis. No stranger to Wildtracks, she has volunteered with both the endangered Yucatan black howler and Central American spider monkeys at the Primate Rehabilitation Centre in the past. She was supported by the Wildtracks primate tracking team...particularly Delmar Gongora and Rudy Castellanos, who brought not only knowledge of Fireburn but also years of experience in finding, tracking and collecting data on released howler monkeys.
Results
A total of 116 individual monkeys were identified across 21 troops, ranging in size from 1-10 individuals.
45.6% of the population were either juveniles or infants, and therefore born in Fireburn, in the wild!!! These are the first, second, and potentially even third generation offspring of the original rehabilitation howler monkeys.
It's not just the howls that ensure we know of their presence...did you know that howler monkey faeces have a distinctive smell? And the distinctive way that they eat and discard Cecropia leaves is indicative of their presence? Whilst the survey concentrated on the core areas with the highest density of monkeys, these signs tell us that there are other troops in the area still to be rediscovered and counted. The howler monkey population at this site is flourishing - a successful reintroduction into one of Belize's three key forest corridors.
Manatees at Wildtracks
Benchmarks for success in wildlife rehabilitation can be measured through contribution to the next generation - this was celebrated in August 2023, when Twiggy, one of our first rehabilitated manatees, turned up with....a new born calf!!
Over the years, Twiggy has developed a routine of turning up in the lagoon twice a year for a week or so, hanging out with the soft-release manatees before she is off again into Corozal Bay Wildlife Sanctuary and Shipstern Lagoon, living her life as a wild manatee. We have always joked that one day, she would turn up with a calf.
Twiggy had arrived earlier in the week, no calf in sight. Wildtracks Team members Shannon and Catherine were enjoying sunrise by the terrace - and were in the right place at the right time to see Twiggy swim by with a newly born calf at her side. A proud mother showing off her contribution to the next generation of Antillean manatees in Belize! For a species that is at increasing risk from boat traffic, every calf counts.
We don’t know whether this little addition to the manatee population is male or female, but in watching Twiggy care for this 'Twiglet' over a two-week period, we do know that she is providing the nurturing care that it will need to grow successfully. When she was ready, she took it out of the sheltered lagoon and into Corozal Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, where they will benefit from protection by the Sarteneja Alliance for Conservation and Development patrol team, and by the watchful eyes of local fishermen. Here, she will eventually teach her calf to find seagrass and freshwater and ensure it has the life skills it needs for the future. It is success stories like this that the support of our donors and Wildtracks volunteers helps to make a reality!
Tess and Toby
Our two rehab manatee calves, Tess and Toby, are approaching soft release – they will have their first days out in the soft release lagoon later this month / early next month. Before then they will be caught and ‘pit tagged’ (so that that they can be scanned and identified in the future), and fitted with soft release trackers that provide satellite data on where they go in the soft release lagoon.
Building for the Future...
2024 brings with it the construction of the replacement wildlife rehabilitation building, funded through grants from our amazing partners the Belize Fund for a Sustainable Future, Twycross Zoo and Burgers’ Zoo. To make way for the new building, we had to sweep out the old....and give thanks to all those who knew, worked in, loved (and hated) the old Manatee Building. To those who knew it as the Education building, those who filled the room with songs as they mixed manatee milk or chopped fruit (and those who were really irritated by those who sang), to those who danced to the songs and those who danced to their own beat....thank you for all the memories this building held! For those who will join us in the future, creating new memories in the new building...we look forward to your arrival!
Building for the Future Appeal
The excitement is real!! The Building for the Future Appeal has reached and exceeded the Appeal target of US$10,000. This will cover equipping the building for full operations - storage units, furniture, shelving, animal care equipment – many thanks to all those who supported the Appeal and made it a success!
We are starting this year feeing inspired!! If you are also inspired and would like to help us in our work, please consider donating through the Wildtracks Global Giving page - all donations in January and February will be going to the Building for the Future Appeal, and are tax deductible in the US and UK.
Our partner, Save the Manatee Club, also has an Amazon wishlist that includes the milk formula and other equipment we use for manatee rehabilitation. A huge thank you to those SMC members that donate milk each year - we really appreciate your gift...and so do our manatees!! If you would like to donate milk for the manatee calves in care, visit the Save the Manatee Club Amazon wishlist site!
NEWS
Strengthening wildlife management in Belize
Conservation Planning Unit Updates: On the Conservation Planning side, Wildtracks finalized the revision of Belize’s Wildlife Conservation and Management Act in collaboration with the Belize Forest Department and other stakeholders, and drafted Belize’s first Wildlife Policy. The revisions include a ban on circus animals and animal testing, addresses cruelty to wildlife, management of exotic species and the recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples to manage wildlife within their lands. The drafts have gone to national consultation but still have to go through legal review and be passed by the Belize Government - but it is a huge step forward!!
Conservation Skills Training: Wildtracks will be launching its new conservation skills training programme in 2024. In 2023, the Conservation Planning Unit partnered with WildTeam, a non-profit conservation training organization in the UK, to pilot a series of certified conservation skills training courses in Belize for conservation practitioners. Supported by New England Biolabs Foundation, it provided a cohort of 30 conservation practitioners from Government, protected areas and species conservation agencies an opportunity to build their skills in project planning, project management and grant writing for conservation. A second pilot is currently ongoing, and is being supported under the Belize Fund for a Sustainable Future. It focuses on strengthening management of endangered Antillean manatees in Belize, and integrates lessons learned from the first pilot.
Congratulations to Wildtracks founding directors, Paul and Zoe Walker
We congratulate our directors, Paul and Zoe Walker, who have both received MBEs as part of the King's New Year's Honours list this year, in recognition of their contribution to biodiversity and conservation in Belize!
In their words…“We feel very honoured to be entrusted by the Government of Belize to provide rescue, rehabilitation and release services for some of its amazing wildlife, including endangered manatees, spider monkeys and howler monkeys. It has also been an inspiring adventure in the world of conservation planning across Belize's tropical forests, seas, and species....protected areas, conservation organizations and communities....and one that hasn't yet finished.
Whilst the awards have our names on them, they reflect the commitment of the Belize Government and the many conservation organizations and individuals we have collaborated with over the years, the work they do and the impacts they make. The awards also reflect the hard work and commitment of the volunteers and supporters who have made Wildtracks what it is today, and the greatly appreciated support from our local communities of Sarteneja and Fireburn.”
Join us on our journey to keep the 'Wild' in Wildlife in Belize!
A huge thank you to our Wildtracks Team (Wildtracks Belize, Wildtracks USA, Wildtracks staff, volunteers and supporters), the Belize Forest Department, Belize Fisheries Department, donors and grant partners for all your support.
Contact us: office@wildtracksbelize.org
Belize's Manatee Rehabilitation Centre is managed under a Memorandum of Understanding with the Belize Fisheries Department (Ministry of Blue Economy and Civil Aviation)
Belize's Primate Rehabilitation Centre is managed under a Memorandum of Understanding with the Belize Forest Department (Ministry of Sustainable Development, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management)