Croc refuge revived
Nearly two years after their crocodile sanctuary in Belize was destroyed by a fire-setting mob, a Butler native and her husband are still working to rebuild.
Cherie Chenot-Rose said she and her husband, Vince, are rebuilding the American Crocodile Education Sanctuary on a shrimp farm in Ladyville, outside Belize City. The new facility replaces the one that was near the fishing village of Punta Gorda.
Chenot-Rose said hundreds of villagers burnt that facility to the ground on Sept. 5, 2010.
“There were two children missing,” Chenot-Rose said. “A psychic told them we had fed them to the crocodiles.”
The Roses weren't home when the violence happened, but their house, all their possessions and two guest bungalows were destroyed.
But the villagers didn't stop at property damage.
“They killed 15 crocodiles,” Chenot-Rose said. “The larger ones were shot and died a slow death. The little guys were chopped with machetes.”
Protecting the American crocodile is what the Roses have been doing for the last seven and a half years.
“The American crocodile is found only in the Americas,” said Chenot-Rose. “The 10,000 to 20,000 estimated worldwide make them as rare as polar bears, only they aren't all cute and cuddly.”Chenot-Rose fears the American crocodile population is much smaller than reported.“Belize is considered the last stronghold of this species, which is increasingly threatened by poachers, development and pollution,” she said.She said poachers capture crocodiles and chop off their tails to sell on the black market. Mistakenly believing crocodile tails will grow back, they release the maimed reptiles. Now crippled, the animals find it hard to hunt natural prey, Chenot-Rose said, and start eating pets.“Tourists, who should know better,” said Chenot-Rose, “come here to Belize to feed the crocs.” As a result, she said, the animals lose their fear of humans and become dangerous.A crocodile can reach lengths of 18 feet in the wild and 14 feet in captivity.In their new sanctuary on the 266-acre shrimp farm, four hours north of Punta Gorda, the Roses are already protecting 22 freshwater crocodiles, four saltwater crocodiles and one rescued croc that is being nursed back to health in a holding pen.Chenot-Rose said the shrimp farm owner is allowing them to use the property, “and we'll deal with his problematic crocs as well. It's a symbiotic relationship.”Chenot-Rose said the shrimp farm property with its waterways, canals and marshes makes an ideal habitat for a crocodile sanctuary. She said with a little work and some barriers, shrimp and crab can enter the crocodiles' areas to provide food sources, and yet the crocodiles are unable to get out.“It's not a zoo, it's an animal sanctuary where they are kept as humanely as possible,” she said. “These are large habitats that can only be viewed from one side. It's set up for the animals, not the viewers.”
The new sanctuary is open to visitors by reservation only at the present time.The Roses concern is for the crocodiles, not the tourists. “We try to make it as stress-free as possible” for the animals, said Chenot-Rose.In addition to re-establishing their sanctuary, the Roses are trying to raise $25,000 to complete an educational wildlife refuge on Ambergis Caye, an island off the Central American nation's northeast coast.“That will enable us to hold crocs here for rehab and re-release or later transport to the main facility in Ladyville,” she said. “and also rescue all wildlife in need on the island and get the animals to the appropriate facility to care for them on the mainland.”Although Chenot-Rose said they won't return to the site of their former sanctuary, they're still hoping to recover some of their losses.The Roses are suing the government of Belize under the Riot Compensation Act, seeking $500,000 in damages.“It is expected that this trial will be concluded on May 25, 2012,” said the Roses' attorney, Agnes Segura-Gillett of Belize City. “I cannot say when the judge will deliver his judgment; as a practice, they do so within three months of the last hearing date.”
“The Roses are suing the government of Belize because our Riots Act, Chapter 338 of the Law of Belize, makes provisions for persons who suffer loss or damage as a result of a riot to claim compensation from the government of Belize for that loss,” said Segura-Gillett.A spokeswoman for the Attorney General's Ministry of the government of Belize said the matter was before the court, and the ministry wouldn't comment until after a decision has been made by the court.It's been a winding road that's taken the Butler native from her 1989 graduation from Slippery Rock University with a double major in biology and psychobiology to a crocodile sanctuary in Belize.“It was a long route, but I had worked with alligators with the Barrier Island Education Center in South Carolina, and that's where I first got into reptiles,” she said.“Then I worked for the Colorado Division of Wildlife and the National Marine Fisheries Service. It all leads up to actually being a research biologist. I got my data collection skills working for those two departments.”She and Vince were married in Colorado, but wished to return to the sea.“We found Belize and the crocodiles found us. I knew I would do some type of research, and when we found some small crocs plus everyone just wanted to kill crocs out of fear or poaching them, we saw the need,” Chenot-Rose said.ACES in the only permitted crocodile rescue team in the country and the Roses' facility was verified by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries.<br></BR>
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