Students learn about Belize environment

946 mosquito bites scratched.

169 bird species spotted.

7 ecosystems experienced.

1 trip to Belize.

The 2009-2010 Viterbo Ecology of Belize class spent part of their Christmas Break studying the biodiversity of the many ecosystems in Belize. Fifteen Viterbo science students along with Michael Alfieri, associate professor of biology, and Catherine Wright, instructor of biology, spent Dec. 29, 2009 to Jan. 9, 2010 practicing what they learned in a semester long course at Viterbo in the Belizean habitats and increasing their knowledge on flora, fauna, animals and conservation in Belize. 

The class started out their week at Monkey Bay Wildlife Sanctuary where they were joined by Father Mitten, professor of natural science, and four Belizean students from St. Johns College in Belize City. The Sanctuary included 1,070 acres of tropical forest, riverine and savanna habitats 

Kaila Schoenboerger, sophomore biopsychology major from Franksville, Wis., told Lumen, “Monkey Bay was like a summer camp you went to when you were a kid, with bunk beds in cabins and a dining hall, but more environmentally conscious.”     

Showers were powered by collected rain, which made for an ice cold experience, Alex Metzler, junior biology major from Onalaska, Wis., said. The bathrooms were pit toilets where methane gas was produced.

Students participated in 5:30 a.m. birding expenditures at Monkey Bay with Belizean guides. Leanna Jackan, junior biology major from Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., told Lumen, “The Belizean birding guides showed an amazing ability of identifying the birds by a single glance considering how the morphological forms and colors were so similar.” 

The students experienced a caving adventure at Tiger Cave where they saw 2,000 year old Mayan pots. “The Mayan pottery reminds you there were people living here with a story and history before we even knew they existed,” Jackan said.

Jackan remembers how the guides made sure to inform the students of the kissing bug that lives in the caves. This small bug bites a person’s lip and feasts on human blood, infecting the bloodstream with a parasite. A bite from one of these bugs causes death in twenty years.

 “It was entertaining that the guides alluded to the bug when we entered the cave, but ‘accidently’ forgot to mention the bug was rare until after we left the caves,” Jackan said.     

The trip consisted of a tour of the Community Baboon Sanctuary. Schoenboerger was able to feed a wild black howler monkey hanging from its tail out of a tree. “It kind of tickled as the howler monkey licked a banana right off my hand,” Schoenboerger said. 

The CBS is a 100 percent private, volunteer operated conservation organization that works to protect the native black howler monkey and its habitat. Eight villages in the area signed petitions in 1985 promising to not cut down the trees the monkeys feed on for farming. 

In 1986, only 800 monkeys lived in the CBS. Today over 6,000 monkeys live in the protected areas of the CBS. Schoenboerger was impressed by the conservation practices at the CBS, “By getting the community involved and enthusiastic to help the CBS was able to successfully help the monkey population.”

Kaati Schrier, sophomore biopsychology major from Onalaska, Wis., told Lumen about her experience at the Cockscomb Jaguar Preserve in Stann Creek District, Belize.  In 1986, the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary was created over 150 square miles to protect jaguars from being hunted and stop their tropical rainforest habitat from being destroyed, becoming the world’s only jaguar preserve, home to over 200 jaguars.