Bruce Cullerton (deceased)
In a bizarre twist of fate, and to date the only fatality related to Hurricane Richard, was the death of American Ex-pat Bruce Cullerton when sometime on Monday a contained jaguar escaped from his hurricane damaged enclosure and lethally mauled Cullerton.
The grim accident took place near the Belize Zoo on the Western Highway after the area took a direct hit from the hurricane Sunday night. Professional wildlife photographers and owners of the animal compound where the jaguar was contained, Richard and Carol Foster, reported that their property had sustained a lot of damage and that the jaguar had escaped. Reports speculate that their neighbor Cullerton may have been trying to rescue his dog from the jaguar attack when he lost his life.
Tuesday afternoon news reports were rampant about the attack and Belize Wildlife Department (BFD) Officials, along with law enforcement, Belize Zoo personnel and local animal experts descended on the area to determine their next move. In a phone interview with Wildlife Officer Rasheda Sampson, Sampson told The SPSUN that last night a team of highly trained animal experts, including the BFD, set up a series of snare traps with sensors along the Foster and Cullerton’s property. At approximately 9:30pm they successfully snared the animal within feet of its home enclosure and after positive identification the jaguar was euthanized.
For the complete story read The San Pedro Sun tomorrow.
