When we travelled to Belize we had a chance to do the Jaguar experience. Ever since I heard about it I wanted to go and meet a Jaguar up close. These beautiful cats are deadly but who would not want to meet one?
As we were watching youtube videos we found some people visiting the Belize zoo. A couple of videos we saw had people being put in a cage and then a Jaguar came out and you were able to feed them and touch them. You also saw them do a few tricks. Sold. I needed to know the cost and if they still did it because of COVID. Going online I found the website for the Zoo and made contact.
Patiently waiting to hear back to see if I would meet a Jaguar. I continued to research the details on Jaguars in Belize. We watched all the videos I could find about the Belize zoo. I didn’t have to wait long. They responded the following day with a list of dates and times. I spoke to Raymond and we figured it out and set up our appointment. We were going to get up close to a Jaguar. More specifically a Jaguar named Lindo.
We reached the Jaguar area of the zoo and walked around. I was getting excited. Apparently Lindo could care less if we were there. He was chilling out on top of the cage where we would soon go into so we could meet him. His caretakers were trying to get him to jump down so we could go in and meet him. He was having no part of what they wanted. However the minute he saw the “food guy” he lazily jumped down off the cage as he knew he was going to get fed. All I could do was laugh. This cat had an attitude and it was infectious.
The caretakers safely secured Lindo (which means handsome) in another area. We washed the bottoms of our shoes before we entered. We never felt like we were in any kind of danger. The Caretaker explained to us what they do at the Zoo. All animals are native to Belize. This is a rehabilitation zoo.
Lindo was brought to the zoo in 2008. He was roughly 2 or 3 years old at the time. He had been going into a farm and was killing the small animals to survive. The zoo got word and with the assistance of the government they went out and found Lindo and brought him to live out the rest of his life at the zoo. His unique markings are a one of a kind, all Jaguars have beautiful fur however the patterns are all different. This also helps when tracking Jaguars as you can start to identify if it is the same jaguar just by looking at their coat.
Lindo is now 14 and the caretaker informed us that he is an average sized Jaguar. He is roughly 120 lbs and will likely live into his early 20’s. While in the cage we were able to feed him some chicken, watch him roll over and give his caretaker high fives. We were able to pet his belly, legs and paws. He was by far the softest animal I have ever touched. I felt bad for him that he had to be placed at the zoo, however you can tell they really take care of their animals here.
When we left the cage and came out they gave Lindo some extra treats so we could get a few more pictures of him. I honestly did not want to leave. He was beautiful and yet very dangerous.
I cannot wait to go back and see Lindo again…
