Into Belize

Animals, Sept, 1999 by Deborah Knight

The Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary also gives refuge to many other species, including four other wild cats, tapirs, peccaries, howler monkeys, and more than 300 species of birds. At the visitor's center, a book listed recent sightings: margays (a mostly tree-dwelling wild cat), jaguarundis (another wild cat), kinkajous, and "two tamanduas in pectoral amplexus position" (translation: two tree-climbing anteaters perpetuating the species).

Sanctuary manager Derric Chan led us on a night walk. Crickets and cicadas thrummed, spider eyes glinted blue amid leaf litter, and a colony of leaf-cutting ants rushed along their well-worn paths, bringing home bits of leaf and flower. A black-and-white owl hooted. Moonlight streamed down though giant palm fronds. The big unknown about a night walk is the chance-about fifty-fifty, Derric said-of seeing one of the nocturnal mammals: cats, kinkajous, opossums. A growl sounded in the dark, and a responding growl. Derric listened intently. More growls. Jaguars? Derric shook his head. He couldn't tell. But somehow the very possibility cast a spell.

As we flew out of Belize City, we gazed down at the green swath of land below. It seemed remarkably little touched by human habitation. Belize retains over 65 percent of its forests and much of its mangroves, and its barrier reef is relatively healthy. Here is a place where wildlife still has a chance. But the country's population is growing, and development increasing. Can ecotourism bring Belize the money it needs to protect its wildlife? Many Belizean conservation organizations believe it can-and must. With few resources, they are racing the clock.

Things to Know Before You Go

Good Books Belize Adventures in Nature, by Richard Mahler; Insight Guides Belize, 1998; Belize and Northern Guatemala: The Ecotravellers' Wildlife Guide, by Les Beletsky; and Paul Humann's snorkeling guide and three-volume set of reef field guides (expensive but wonderful).

Information Belize has a major presence on the Web. Begin at Belize by Naturalight (www.belizenet. com) and link away from there. Also check out Belize First magazine (www.turq.com/belizefirst). You can also get information from:

* Belize Audubon Society: phone 501-23-5004; www.belizeaudubon.org; e-mail: base@btl.net.

* Programme for Belize: phone 501-27-5616; www.belizenet.com/pfbel.html; e-mail:pfbel@btl.net.

Guides and Operators

* At Crooked Tree, Glenn Crawford. phone 501-257044; or, in the United States, through Adventure Camera, Inc., (888) 875-9453.

* International Zoological Expeditions offers diving and snorkeling at South Water Caye and Glover's Reef. It also operates a lodge in the southern rainforest with a canopy skywalk and local Mayan guides; (800) 548-5843 in the United States; in Belize, e-mail: izebelize@btl.net.

* International Expeditions, Inc., offers group and individually planned nature trips; 800 633-4734.

Environmental journalist Deborah Knight visited Belize in April to explore some of its popular wildlife destinations.