# Cockscomb Jaguar Sanctuary Created (1986)

URL: https://allhistories.com/belize/timeline/1986-cockscomb-jaguar-sanctuary-created
Location: Cockscomb Basin, Stann Creek District
Themes: main-event

The Cockscomb Basin, a horseshoe of forested valleys on the eastern slopes of the Maya Mountains in Stann Creek District, had been logged for mahogany and cedar since the 1920s. By 1984, when the timber was largely exhausted, the American zoologist Alan Rabinowitz was conducting a pioneering field study of jaguars there for the New York Zoological Society, radio-collaring cats and documenting an unusually dense population. Rabinowitz's findings convinced the Belizean government that the basin was critical jaguar habitat. In 1984 it was declared a forest reserve with a no-hunting zone, and in 1986, after lobbying by Rabinowitz, Archie Carr III and local supporters such as Ignacio Pop from the Maya village of Maya Centre, the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary was established, the first protected area anywhere devoted to jaguar conservation. The Maya community of Quam Bank was relocated to Maya Centre at the reserve's edge. The sanctuary was greatly enlarged in 1990 and again in 1995, when it was linked to the Bladen Nature Reserve, and it now covers about 500 square kilometres. In 1988 the IUCN called it the major achievement in cat conservation of the period. Managed by the Belize Audubon Society, it remains a flagship of Belize's protected-areas system and its ecotourism. At this point in the timeline (1986), the Queen of Belize was Elizabeth II (21 September 1981 – 8 September 2022); the Governor-General of Belize was Minita Gordon (21 September 1981 – 17 November 1993). Government: the Prime Minister of Belize was Manuel Esquivel (17 December 1984 – 7 September 1989).

## Why it matters
Cockscomb made Belize a world pioneer in big-cat conservation and anchored its network of protected areas.

Ruler at the Time: [Elizabeth II (1981–2022)](https://allhistories.com/belize/rulers/elizabeth-ii-queen-of-belize)

Governor-General of Belize: Minita Gordon
Prime Minister of Belize: Manuel Esquivel (United Democratic Party)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockscomb_Basin_Wildlife_Sanctuary)
- [Wikipedia — Alan Rabinowitz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Rabinowitz)
- [Belize Audubon Society](https://www.belizeaudubon.org/)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica — Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=Cockscomb+Basin+Wildlife+Sanctuary)
- [Wikipedia — Independent Belize (period overview)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belize)