Belize Wildlife & Referral Clinic

Belize Wildlife & Referral Clinic Objectives for the BWRC:
1. Provide free veterinary care to injured, orphaned, neglected or otherwise imperiled wildlife.
2.

Providing veterinary care and rehabilitation for injured, neglected, and orphaned wildlife; a voice for the humane treatment of animals
Vision: Conservation and Sustainable Development in Cooperation Establish and manage a state of the art veterinary clinic.
3. Provide small animal referral services.
4. Provide educational opportunities and training for students, professionals and interested individuals.
5. Support research in areas related to wildlife conservation.

Wildlife Wednesday: Who's who? 👥🤔💭Here we have the Agouti (Dasypyrocta punctate) and the Lowland Paca or Gibnut as it's ...
10/06/2026

Wildlife Wednesday: Who's who? 👥🤔💭

Here we have the Agouti (Dasypyrocta punctate) and the Lowland Paca or Gibnut as it's known here (Agouti paca) (confusing we know😵‍💫). Both are patients we occasionally see here at the clinic and both suffer overhunting in some regions. 😔 While these distant cousins may look somewhat similar and live in the same region, they have their own distinct behaviors and ecological traits. 🔀

The agouti is diurnal☀️ while the Gibnut is nocturnal🌕, Gibnut are a good bit larger than agoutis and will take to the water if threatened. 🤿 Also only one of these rainforest rodents holds the impressive title as the Royal Rat! 👑🐭

So do you know who's who❓ Let's hear it in the comments! ⬇️👇⬇️

SAVE course update: Day 2 of spay and neuter surgeries successfully completed! Thanks 🙏 to our visiting vets and student...
10/06/2026

SAVE course update: Day 2 of spay and neuter surgeries successfully completed! Thanks 🙏 to our visiting vets and students from University of Tennessee in this Small Animals Veterinary Experience - SAVE, our BWRC team and Chico last weeks health checks in 7 Mile El Progresso 17 surgeries were completed so far. 🐕 🐈

One Health News 1️⃣🩺🚨An outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 was confirmed in black vultures in Lem...
09/06/2026

One Health News 1️⃣🩺🚨
An outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 was confirmed in black vultures in Lempira, Honduras on June 5th. Authorities report deaths among wild birds (136 black vultures). In response they carried out sanitary disposal, and activated surveillance and movement control measures. They are also doing door to door monitoring of nearby poultry farms and luckily have reported no evidence of transmission of this outbreak to domestic birds at this time. 🐓

There have been no confirmed cases here in Belize but an outbreak in wildlife anywhere in the region should be taken seriously. We would like to take this opportunity to emphasize the importance of reporting unusual bird deaths and maintaining strong biosecurity to help prevent HPAI. 📢

For us at BWRC this is a stark reminder that our work goes beyond rescue and rehabilitation. Besides caring for injured, sick, and orphaned wildlife we also support disease monitoring as part of the One Health approach and Belize’s broader biosecurity efforts. 🛡️

For more info see the report here: https://wahis.woah.org/ #/in-review/7612?fromPage=event-dashboard-url

🦜🦠 Zoonosis Spotlight: PsittacosisPsittacosis or parrot fever is a bacterial disease that mostly affects birds but can s...
08/06/2026

🦜🦠 Zoonosis Spotlight: Psittacosis

Psittacosis or parrot fever is a bacterial disease that mostly affects birds but can sometimes spread to us too. People most often get exposed by breathing in dust from infected droppings or respiratory drainage. This is why bird owners and people who work around lots of birds, including poultry, are at higher risk. Higher exposure = higher risk.😷🐓

In people, it is usually a mild respiratory illness and can cause fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, and a dry cough. In birds, signs can include ruffled feathers, low energy, trouble breathing, eye or nasal discharge, lack of appetite and greenish/yellow droppings.

The good news is that prevention isn't too difficult. Good hygiene and husbandry are go a long way. Keep enclosures clean, don't overcrowd, never stack cages on top of one another, wear proper PPE (gloves and mask) when cleaning, and isolate any sick bird promptly. A clean setup greatly reduces this risk for both birds and people. 🧼🧤✨
Want to learn more about psittacosis? Check out the video linked in the comments 👇

Talk about an international incident! 🦎🌎 This adventurous green iguana found himself in a serious predicament—with his h...
07/06/2026

Talk about an international incident! 🦎🌎 This adventurous green iguana found himself in a serious predicament—with his head in Belize and his tail in the United States! After a lucky wrong turn, a passerby spotted him stuck in the U.S. Embassy Belize compound fence!

Thankfully, Ms. Eden sprang into action, carefully pulling the fence in a way to free our scaly friend. He was brought into the clinic facilities at BWRC the very same day, where our wildlife vet, Dr. Isabelle, gave him a thorough exam. Luckily, he had no injuries and was given a clean bill of health! He was eager to get back to nature and was successfully released at the creek near our clinic. 📹RELEASE VIDEO IN THE COMMENTS!

A massive thank you to the village it took to save this guy:
Rescue: Ms. Eden Estephan
Transport: Belize Bird Rescue
Veterinary Care: Dr. Isabelle & the BWRC Clinic Staff
Release Video: Kestrel He (U of Minnesota) and Deborah Olivarez (BWRC)

The 2026 baby 🥰 season is unusually busy! Our team sees a lot of species every year - we have tended to 43 different spe...
07/06/2026

The 2026 baby 🥰 season is unusually busy!

Our team sees a lot of species every year - we have tended to 43 different species at the BWRC for 2026 so far.

And then we have some more commonly seen species… So fir example we have hospitalized 18 Yucatan Squirrels 🐿️, 18 rescued Coatis and 31 opossums in 2026 so far.

And behind the scenes we have heroes 🦸 without capes, but with masks 😷 and compassion caring for all our diverse patients!

Thank you 🙏 to the callers, rescuers, transporters, funders, donors and other supporters, volunteers, interns and staff for your help in giving them a second chance!

Follow our Instagram, Facebook and YouTube pages to learn more about why all these animals get hurt and how you can prevent, help and be part of the solution! We certainly need more help…

🦎 day and Sheeba‘s C-section: after first trying medical treatment for dystocia (also called egg binding, wich is a life...
06/06/2026

🦎 day and Sheeba‘s C-section: after first trying medical treatment for dystocia (also called egg binding, wich is a life threatening condition in many reptiles) today it was time for surgical intervention to save Sheeba‘s life.

Thanks to the team of assistants she made it through surgery and already got up 🆙 after. However we will be holding our fingers crossed 🤞 for the next 14 days of recovery ❤️‍🩹 in hopes that she eventually returns to our amazing partners and

Please 🥺 don’t shoot! This unfortunate Pygmy owl 🦉 was another sad victim of gunshot. While she came in alive she died i...
05/06/2026

Please 🥺 don’t shoot! This unfortunate Pygmy owl 🦉 was another sad victim of gunshot. While she came in alive she died in recovery ❤️‍🩹 and CPR could not bring her back 😢

Thanks to the rescuer and Belize Raptor Center for bringing her to care!

🐾💚 Did you know opossums provide great pest control? 🚫 🦟 🐀 🐜These misunderstood animals are some of nature’s quiet helpe...
05/06/2026

🐾💚 Did you know opossums provide great pest control? 🚫 🦟 🐀 🐜
These misunderstood animals are some of nature’s quiet helpers. In Belize, we have 8 different species of opossum, and they do an important job by eating ticks, insects and other small pests. They even help clean up dead animals in the environment. That means less contamination in the landscape and a healthier ecosystem for everyone 🌎✨

It is tragic how often opossums are victims of abuse because these creatures are hardworking, adaptable, and far more helpful than many realize. And this baby season alone, we’ve already seen 31 common opossums come through our doors! 🍼😮

The more we learn about our shy nocturnal neighbors, the easier it is to appreciate the important role they play in Belize’s biodiversity 💚

🚨 to something completely different: Do you see what we see in this 🩻 of a ratite 🐦? She was brought in for observed ing...
04/06/2026

🚨 to something completely different: Do you see what we see in this 🩻 of a ratite 🐦?

She was brought in for observed ingestion of a bottle cap but we found more…. Pica or ingestion of non food items can be common in this species. Fingers crossed 🤞 for non-surgical treatment success and no life threatening obstruction.

When it comes to proper nutrition for our patients, we trust Emeraid Critical Care formulas and are ever so grateful ☺️ to for their generous support for our rescued wildlife patients.

Address

Mile 60 George Price Highway
Unitedville
N/A

Opening Hours

Monday 09:00 - 17:00
Tuesday 09:00 - 17:00
Wednesday 09:00 - 17:00
Thursday 09:00 - 17:00
Friday 09:00 - 17:00

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