Twycross Zoo Supporting Spider Monkey Reintroductions in Belize

Celebrating partnerships!

Twycross Zoo has supported the reintroduction of endangered Central American spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) by Wildtracks, and released a short video celebrating the spider monkey release in the North East Biological Corridor in Belize.

Rewilding the North East Biological Corridor with these large, very mobile seed dispersers is not only an important strategy in the long term viability of this endangered species. It is also an important step in building resilience of the forest to climate change, ensuring that the drought-resistant trees and plants of northern Belize can move south over time to reinforce forest structures and ecosystem services as less resilient tree species are lost.

It is only through partners such as Twycross Zoo, investing in species conservation action in countries like Belize, and through the actions of individual donors, supporters and volunteers, that important species conservation work can be implemented on the ground.

Thank you, Twycross Zoo, for investing in the future of biodiversity in Belize!

Belize Manatees Under Threat

Boats and coastal development are both impacting Efforts to protect them include effective management of critical protected areas - and manatee rehabilitation. Part of this short video captures Tess, one of the orphaned manatees, soon after she arrived at the Manatee Rehabilitation Centre at Wildtracks. Manatee calves are often so fragile when they come in, and need 24 hour critical care. Critical care is not just about dealing with the physical issues of dehydration, cuts, bruises and emaciation, but also the mental issues - calves are in constant contact with their mothers in the wild, and being orphaned adds additional stress for these calves.

Tess is now recovered and on her path through rehabilitation towards release back into the wild in another two years. Each returned calf is important to a wild population that has such low numbers - an investment in the future for this species in Belize...

Thank you, The Nature Conservancy - Belize, for highlighting Belize's manatees!