Cockscomb Basin

The Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary was established as a forest reserve in 1986 and was given sanctuary status in 1990, in the Stann Creek district, at the foot of the Maya Mountains, in southern Belize. It protects some 506 km².

Its declaration answered an explicit and pioneering aim: it is the first protected area in the world created specifically for the conservation of the jaguar. It was driven by the zoologist Alan Rabinowitz on the basis of the fieldwork he carried out in the basin in the early 1980s, the first to document the cat's ecology in its habitat in detail, and the sanctuary became a model for the conservation of large carnivores in the tropics.

The basin holds one of the highest known jaguar densities, alongside puma, ocelot, margay and jaguarundi: the five cat species of Central America. There are also Baird's tapir, the largest land mammal in the region and Belize's national animal, and a birdlife of more than three hundred species. The ground climbs from the plain up to Victoria Peak, one of the highest summits in the country, and the reserve is managed by the Belize Audubon Society. The Mopan Maya communities around it take part in its management and in the associated tourism.