“The achievements of the team and CSFI have been nothing less than humbling and impressive. It has been my and WVI’s absolute pleasure to work with you all; thank you for all of the very kind hospitality; we are looking forward to the future and working with CSFI and the Belize Forest Department. A huge well done to allthose involved in the training!”

Vet Elliott Simpson-Brown has just landed back in the UK, after an intensive two weeks training with the Corozal Sustaintable Future Initiative (CSFI) ranger team in Belize. At the end of the course, each trainee was evaluated in key areas, including safe darting techniques, anaesthesia and recovery, emergency response, clinical examination and post-mortem procedures.

Receiving their official certificates at CSFI HQ marked the moment when the rangers became the first certified wildlife response team in Belize trained to professionally handle big cat incidents and human-wildlife conflict.

We are delighted that WVI has been able to be help the country achieve this important milestone, which represents an important step in creating safer futures for jaguars, pumas and the people who share their landscape. It is an honour to be part of this initiative between CSFI, the Belize Forest Department and the Government of Belize and we look forward enormously to seeing how the partnership develops.

Not only is the ranger team now equipped to safely dart and capture big cats, but they are also ready to carry out essential health screening. This is all part of a bigger reforestation initiative, underlining  how veterinary science plays an essential role in the greater conservation picture and the protection of biodiversity.

This year’s training follows on from Elliott’s initial sessions in the spring of 2024. Witha lack of wildlife vets in Belize, CSFI was eager for him to return to continue training the ranger team, following the enthusiasm for the project last year, and the successful implementation of WVI health assessment and anaesthesia protocols with jaguars since then.

Although Belize has a comparatively healthy jaguar and puma population compared to other countries in Central America, this leads to an increased risk of conflict between big cats and people, particularly on the fringes of the protected forest regions. Where there is no easy option for relocating conflict animals, the resulting tension can result in targeted hunting and persecution. With the population declining, any opportunity for gaining insight into the health status of these cats, as well as fitting them with radio-collars for monitoring distribution and range use post-trapping, is potentially valuable.

Any information gathered also has the potential to inform the conservation of more fragmented jaguar and puma populations in other Central and South American countries too.

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