Documentarians visit BFREE

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Professional photographers, videographers, and documentarians Jorge Silva Rivera and Carlos Miguel Herrera traveled from Chiapas, Mexico, to BFREE for 10-days in February 2022. Working with Zamia Media, the pair set out to document the people, facilities, wildlife, and natural beauty of BFREE. Zamia Media will then use the images and videos captured during their time to create updated visuals for BFREE to use on our website and in other marketing materials.

The duo has vast experience documenting remote, hard-to-reach places throughout southern Mexico and has worked to discover and learn more about some of the most ancient and biodiverse locations in the world.

During their time at BFREE, they spent several days interviewing all of the staff and many of the volunteers and other visitors who overlapped with their visit. They used multiple drones to capture BFREE’s privately protected area and spent hours photographing the flora and fauna throughout the property. It was an honor to host Jorge and Carlos at BFREE and such an incredible experience to have them alongside our team for nearly two weeks.

We understand the importance of documenting our work and sharing the incredible place that is BFREE. However, it can be difficult to do so when all of the other work is so demanding. We are so grateful to have had these two professionals join us so that we can continue #BringingBFREEToYou!

Carlos, left and Jorge, right at the beginning of the BFREE Entrance Road.
Jorge and Carlos from the top of BFREE’s 112′ Observation Tower. Photo by Jorge.

BFREE is for the People!

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Visiting volunteer, Autumn Dietrich captured these incredible candid images of many of the BFREE staff that show the incredible and inspiring faces behind our important and necessary conservation work. It wouldn’t be possible to be the successful conservation organization that we are today without the people who make BFREE. A special thanks to Autumn for sharing these photos and to the staff of BFREE who inspire all of us to keep working to make the world a better place!

What is BFREE?

BFREE is a place for dreams, ideas, and experiences.

It’s a place for innovation and incubation.

BFREE is a privately protected area that borders, links, and serves as a corridor between four national protected areas.

It’s a physical buffer between increasing encroachment and unsustainable land-use practices.

BFREE is a place for research, discovery, and education.

It’s a place for training, mentorship, and inspiring future generations.

BFREE is for the community and the people!

Marcos Kuk, BFREE Ranger
Thomas Pop, HCRC Manager
Marcelino Pop, Facilities Manager
Jonathan Dubon, Wildlife Fellow
Sipriano Canti, Protected Areas Manager
Edwardo Pop, Head Chef
Elmer Tzalam, Operations Manager
Leonardo Choc, Crioco Cacao Staff
Pedro Tuel, Crioco Cacao Staff
Ofelia Cus, Housekeeping Manager
Mark Canti, Cacao Fellow
Jairus Coc, Crioco Cacao Staff

Cacao Fellow, Mark Canti Illustrates Passion for Wildlife

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BFREE Cacao Fellow, Mark Canti, continues to shine in various disciplines at BFREE. In his first year of the two-year Cacao Fellowship program, Mark has proven to be talented in cacao grafting and data collection. Though his focus is primarily on cacao, Mark has expressed that his interests are more than just agroforestry and that he is particularly fascinated and inspired by the wildlife that surrounds him while working at BFREE.

This week, Mark continued to illustrate his passion for wildlife, working through the weekend to support BFREE’s bi-annual Hicatee Health Assessment. Last year he participated in an online Wildlife Veterinary course offered by Belize Wildlife and Referral Clinic (BWRC), and now he put some of the skills he learned from Dr. Isabelle to the test.

The 2022 Hicatee Health Assessments’ purpose is to determine the sex ratio of the captive-born turtles as well as collect growth data and review the overall health of a subset of turtles. Additionally, ultrasounds were performed on adult female turtles.

Donning his Hicatee Hero t-shirt, Mark fit right in with Team Hicatee and was an invaluable addition to the team. In addition to shadowing the veterinarians performing necropsies and endoscopies, Mark has helped with data collection, photographing the various activities, and supporting all of the other important aspects of the health assessment.

Mark on the bottom left along with Team Hicatee on Day One of the Health Assessment in March 2022.

Zoo New England Staff Use Morphometric Imagery to Determine Sex of Hicatee Turtles at BFREE

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Bryan Windmiller and Emilie Wilder from Zoo New England join the BFREE Team to support the Bi-Annual Hicatee Health Assessment at the BFREE Biological Field Station in southern Belize. The March 2022 Health Assessments of the critically endangered Hicatee Turtle, Dermatemys mawii, focused on determining the sax ratios of the captive-bred Hicatee.

In this video, Emilie Wilder and Bryan Windmiller share how they are taking morphometric photos of each turtle to see if it is possible to use image analysis to determine if the turtle is male or female by the shape of its plastron.

A special thanks to both Emilie and Bryan for their invaluable help this week and to Zoo New England for their continued support of our Hicatee conservation program.

Determining sex ratios on captive-born Hicatee

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The March bi-annual health assessment for Dermatemys mawii began on Saturday, March 5, and will wrap up on Tuesday, March 8, 2022. This is the first health assessment since March 2020 that we’ve been able to invite participants from abroad.

The Hicatee Conservation and Research Center has experienced successful breeding of our captive population of turtles since 2014. Since then, hundreds of turtles have been hatched at the facility. However, because there is little research on the species to date, we have not been able to distinguish male hatchlings from female hatchlings. To ensure a successful re-wilding program, we must verify the ratio of males to females. And, if the ratios are not correct, then we will use that information to modify our incubation methods. This health assessment is dedicated to determining our sex ratios at the HCRC.

Research shows that if a turtle’s eggs incubate below 81.86 Fahrenheit, the turtle hatchlings will be male. If the eggs incubate above 87.8° Fahrenheit, however, the hatchlings will be female. Temperatures that fluctuate between the two extremes will produce a mix of male and female baby turtles.

Turtle biologist, Dave Rostal, and Veterinarians, Elliott Jacobson and Isabelle Paquet-Durand are performing endoscopies to determine the sex of our hatchlings. Simultaneously, Bryan Windmiller and Emilie Wilder from Zoo New England are taking morphometric photos of each turtle to see if their plastron shape can help determine the sex of the turtles.

We are also collecting typical growth data on a subset of turtles as well as reviewing their overall health and performing ultrasounds on adult females.

Participants: Zoo New England Staff: Bryan Windmiller and Emilie Wilder; Visiting Veterinarian: Elliott Jacobson, Professor Emeritus, University of Florida, Visiting Biologist: Dave Rostal, Southern Georgia University, Local Veterinarian: Isabelle Paquet-Durand, Visiting Volunteers: Doris Dimmitt, Rod Dimmit, Emily Gregory, Tim Gregory, and Alexi Dart-Padover, BFREE staff: Thomas Pop, Jonathan Dubon, Mark Canti, Elmer Tzalam, Jacob Marlin, and Heather Barrett. BFREE Team Hicatee chef: Edwardo Pop.

Thanks to Zoo New England for their support of this health assessment as well as for their ongoing support for the program.