Wishing you all a Happy Mother's Day!

Ripley's Last Chance

Editors Note: Readers first learned about Ripley on April 19th when we posted the story on our blog, http://sanpedrosun.blogspot.com/2010/04/tortured-and-left-for-dead-aces-rescues.html, and the article was then published in our April 22nd issue (Vol.20-16). Held captive, tortured, shot and left for dead on the shore of the Corozal Bay, ACES came to the croc’s rescue. The injured croc has won over the hearts of many and several of our readers have inquired about his progress. Although Ripley’s fate is still unknown we are happy to share the following update from ACES.

Submitted by Cherie Chenot-Rose, marine biologist, ACES - Today, May 4th, Ripley was given his last chance at life at ACES/ American Crocodile Education Sanctuary. Ripley was rescued on April 15th by ACES from his three weeks of lock and chains in Corozal Bay. With the severity of the injuries inflicted during his illegal captivity, no one really expected Ripley to survive the long trip to ACES near Punta Gorda Town, let alone persevere this long. “It is Ripley’s strong will and apparent endurance that even led us to give him a chance,” states Biologist Cherie Rose, “ordinarily an animal abused this severely would be put down; but there’s something in Ripley and you can just see his determination to live.”

This morning, Behaviorist Vince Rose caught Ripley and force fed him for the third and final time. Scientific measurements were taken and a complete health update assessment was completed. Although Ripley is still not out of the woods, some of his injuries showed signs of healing and no visible infections were found. It is Ripley’s behavior that has deemed him one more opportunity to feed on his own. He reacts to the approach of humans and shows some signs of recovery despite his critical injuries. So, this morning Ripley was moved from the holding pen, where all crocs arriving at ACES are first placed for assessment, and released into a half acre containment area at ACES and swam freely for the first time since he was illegally caught in Corozal over a month ago.

Ripley is force fed for the third time before being released into his new holding facility. After a close exaimination the ACES team determines that Ripely is healthy enough to be moved to his new home.

Measuring at 9 ft 3 in, Ripley is a freshwater Morelet’s Crocodile and protected by the Belize Wildlife Protection Act (Chapter 220). ACES is a permitted facility in southern Belize which has rescued over 40 crocs now country-wide. As a species, Morelet’s are considered vulnerable to extinction throughout their entire range.

Now swimming freely in his new habitat, Ripley is still fighting for his life. ACES’s Biologists believe that the increased activity of swimming and social interaction with other rescued crocs in the facility, all of which are much smaller than Ripley, may stimulate an increase in appetite and entice him to start feeding on his own. “We will observe his behavior for the next few weeks, and if there is not an increase in his daily activities and feeding behaviors, we will still be forced to put him down in the name of humanity,” states Vince.

What is truly amazing is that even though Ripley is totally blind, shortly after he was released into his new habitat, he actually came back out of the water and returned to the gate which he was brought in through, searching for a way out. Cherie would like to say, “There’s a lot of people praying for Ripley and ACES would like to thank all those who have supported and assisted both directly and indirectly with the rescue efforts including the BFD, the Corozal Police Dept., and The San Pedro Sun. My only regret is that ACES is not better equipped to handle such extensive wounds such as the gunshot injury Ripley suffers from. Hopefully in time, with the help of donors, sponsors and grants, ACES will be able to turn an already existing 20 x 15 storage shed into a laboratory fully equipped with proper medical supplies to handle severely injured crocodiles and other wildlife. It is only by working together that we can preserve Belize’s wildlife for future generations.”
For more information about ACES and how you can donate to their facility please visit their website at http://www.americancrocodilesanctuary.org/.

Photos submitted by ACES

S.P.R.C. School Holds Earthquake and Fire Response drill.

Under the supervision of Mr. Jose Zuniga, education officer from the Cayo District Education Center, participants in the "School Safety Course" today participated in a disaster preparedness simulation. In this scenario, two buildings of the RC School caught fire as a result of an earthquake.

January Jones and Oceana - Scared FOR Sharks

Actress January Jones, of "Mad Men" fame on AMC, has been in Belize for a few days this past week to film a PSA (public service announcement) for Oceana entitled "Scared for Sharks". She travelled along with a film crew to get footage of the famous Whale Sharks in Gladden Spit, Placencia as part of her campaign which will be aired internationally. Her campaigns have been featured in Travel + Leisure, InStyle, Sports Illustrated and more.

Today, May 7, 2010, January was at the Best Western Belize Biltmore Plaza along with Ms. Audrey Matura Shepherd, Director for Oceana, Belize City office, International Oceana Director Matt Little-John, Marine Scientist Julie Stockbridge and Underwater Camera Operator Neil Andrea to speak a bit more on the two and a half day's worth of activities.

According to Ms. Jones, her interest in sharks began from a very young age, and when it came time to choose a charity, when she was able to make an impact, Oceana seemed the perfect organization to volunteer her time.

While at Gladden's Spit, they were conscious that the opportunity to spot a Whale Shark was not a guarantee, but during one of their outings, they were looking to leave they noticed a whale shark near their boat in about 20 feet of water. According to Jones, the experience was unlike any other, and she is hard pressed to find words to describe just how it was. They were able to get great shots on film for the PSA.

The PSA will be edited in two versions, one for the US and one for Belize, which Oceana will be responsible for airing countrywide.

After the meeting, January Jones and the film crew went directly to the International Airport to board their flight back home. Look for more details in the upcoming issue of The San Pedro Sun.

Vote for the Stars of Belize Tourism!

Vote by midnight May 13th, 2010 for the 10th Annual National Tourism Awards!

The Belize Tourism Board thanks all participants for submitting nominations for the 10th Annual National Tourism Awards. Again, we welcome your participation in selecting from the top four nominees in each category.

Deadline for VOTING is midnight May 13th, 2010.

Awards:
• Destination of the Year *New*
• Environmental Organization of the Year
• Receptive Service of the Year
• Hotel of the Year
• Restaurant of the Year
• Small Hotel of the Year
• Tour Operator of the Year
• Tour Guide of the Year
• Frontline Person of the Year
• Cultural Award of the Year
• Small Vendor of the Year

Judging Process:
The Belize Tourism Board will ensure that the judging process is fair and credible. With your votes on the finalists, representatives of the BTB's Board and management team will select a panel of judges comprised of representatives from the tourism industry (both private and public sector). The identities of the judges are kept confidential.

The two highest votes in each category are then presented to the judging panels and nominees are assessed on how well they meet the award criteria. These semi-finalists are then further reviewed, and may even be subject to site visits or interviews. The panel of judges then confers and picks the winner for each category.

To submit a nomination to the Belize Tourism Board please click here
or use the link below:

http://www.travelbelize.org/awardsvote/


To view past winners visit belizetourism.org