Young Female Jaguar Knocked Down & Killed Near Sarteneja

A young female jaguar, about eighty pounds in weight, was discovered dead near Sarteneja Village in the Corozal District.  A vehicle collided with the jaguar that was crossing the street, but did not render any assistance. The Sarteneja Alliance for Conservation and Development, which works primarily with marine environment, was called out to the scene. Using guidelines from the Forest Department, forms were filled out and the carcass of the cat buried. News Five spoke today with Executive Director Joel Verde about the incident.

Joel Verde

Joel Verde, Executive Director, Sarteneja Alliance for Conservation & Development

“We received a call from a concerned citizen that was traversing the road coming to Sarteneja and he reported that there was a jaguar on the side of the road. We responded immediately to assess the situation and to be able to confirm whether this was so or not. More and more, in more recent years, we have kind of became aware that this situation is becoming for concerning. Not just situation as such where this jaguar was hit on the road, but also reports of jaguar to human conflict in more recent years and so it was more evident that we should have some responsibility to assist where necessary since we are operating here in the villages of the north. So part of my team responded to the incident, we collected the jaguar, it was transported back to our office on that same night and more superficial diagnostic was done in the morning of that day. Of course, in consultation with the forest department who is the responsible government entity for that, following the instructions and following the protocol. In this case it was a very young jaguar, about eighty pounds in weight, and it was evident that it was hit on the road, specifically to the head. It hasn’t been a common event for us here in the Chunox to Orange Walk, Corozal and Sarteneja Road. But you know there is this new development of the road rehabilitation from Corozal to Sarteneja and so it is expected that these are some of the issues that we would be facing now and in the future. And so we have to be able to bring more awareness about the situation and we have to play our part.”