Category: Belize Zoo

Learn about how you can help support tapir conservation at the Belize Zoo!

Upon first glance, tapirs are often mistaken for a small hippo, pig or anteater but their closest living relatives are actually horses and rhinos.  Many scientists consider tapirs living fossils because they have roamed the Earth for over 50 million years and haven’t evolved much.  The four living species of …

To celebrate Earth Day 2021 we want to send your class on a virtual tour to Belize and the “Best Little Zoo In The World! From jaguars to tapirs, spider monkeys and scarlet macaws, the Belize Zoo is the center for wildlife conservation in the region. These highly interactive tours …

One of only four species of anteater found in the world, the northern tamandua (Tamandua mexicana) is found throughout southern Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. They can be identified through their distinct coloration, with tan fur and a black, vest-shaped marking over the back and sides. Northern tamanduas …

Before the arrival of Europeans to the Americas, the Mayan Empire stretched across Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, and included great cities such as Tulum, Chichen Itza, and Belize’s own Caracol. At the height of their civilization, the ancient Mayans recognized several animals as sacred, but none more …

At little larger than the size of a house cat – and often mistaken for its larger, and more common, ocelot cousins – the margay is a rare site in the rainforests of Belize. Nocturnal, and spending most of their time in the trees of dense evergreen and deciduous forests, …

One of the most recognizable of all the small cats of Central America, the ocelot – known also as the Painted Leopard, Field Tiger, or Dwarf Leopard – is one of the most common cats of Belize, yet also one of the hardest to spot. Nocturnal by nature and prone …

Looking like a cross between a house cat and a weasel is the jaguarundi (Herpailurus yaguarondi), one of the smallest – and least studied – of Belize’s wild cats. While big cats, such as  the jaguars and pumas,  often steal the spotlight from their smaller feline cousins, these often-overlooked cats …