LiFeline Project in Belize
WAC's funds have been used to buy Trailmaster camera-trapping equipment to help identify the individual cats present in their study area. The following proposal was written by Pat Mansard (click here to email her).
The LiFeline project is operating in Belize, Central America, setting up a center to promote the conservation of wild cats and their habitat. Very little is known about Neotropical small cats and research is urgently needed, as they are under threat from hunting, poaching, conflicts with farmers over livestock interests, and most importantly from loss of habitat. The project will provide sound scientific data to help in developing practical conservation measures for cats throughout Central America.
Using camera-traps and radio-tracking, LiFeline will establish the cats' population levels, the areas they need for long-term survival, and the effects of human pressure on their habitat. Information and advice will be given to farmers and local communities to help avoid conflicts with wild cats. LiFeline is also setting up an education program and will train local students in conservation management techniques. LiFeline has already bought its base site. It is next to the largest protected area of forest in Belize, where the field research will be done. A purpose-built cat research center - laboratory, classroom and accommodation for staff and students - will be constructed. This will enable more research in future years, because LiFeline is a long-term project, studying cats over several generations to discover the factors affecting their survival. Ocelot, margay and jaguarundi will be studied first, puma and jaguar later.
The second objective of LiFeline is to battle the illegal trade in "pet" wild cats in Central America. Kittens are captured (their mothers are shot) and subjected to appalling conditions, often being dumped at local zoos when their owners tire of them. It is quite common for a cat to be kept in a birdcage, like the one illustrated, for up to two years. There is no rescue center for cats, so if the authorities did confiscate them there is nowhere to place them. LiFeline will offer a home to these traumatised cats on its 60 acre private rainforest reserve (pictured). We can give them large jungle enclosures, and look at the possibility of rehabilitating them to the wild. Through an education program and by pressuring the authorities we will push for existing wildlife laws to be implemented to protect these cats and outlaw the keeping of them as "pets".
LiFeline has the support of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group. $1.5 million is needed to build the research base and finance the LiFeline project for the next 20 years, to ensure that wild cats have the protection they need.
For more information or to make a donation, check out their Li-Feline website.
Return to the Wild About Cats homepage.
