American Crocodile Educational Sanctuary Fire
According to various sources the American Crocodile Educational Sanctuary, located near Punta Gorda, has been burned to the ground over the weekend. A posting on the ACES Facebook page presents the following story:
ACES no longer exists. While Vince and I were on Ambergris Caye rescuing three problematic crocodiles for the Belize Forest Department, two children went missing from a village near Punta Gorda. The local Maya villagers believed that Vince and I fed the missing children to the crocs. We were not even there, as I stated, but were on Ambergris Caye. As a lynch mob, the villagers burnt ACES / American Crocodile Education Sanctuary to the ground. The status of the crocodiles is unknown because the fire is so hot the Belize Defense Forces cannot get to the property. Noone has been arrested. Vince and Cherie are now homeless and do not have anything to their name. Everything was lost. Our lives have been threated if we return to Punta Gorda. We do not even know if our dogs survived. We are not sure how to handle the situation, but the villagers and the country of Belize need to be held accountable. The United States Embassy in Belize in not helping us at all other than making us pay for our new passports. This is insane.
More on this story as details emerge…
ACES has been very important to us here on the island, helping us with problem crocs.
I cannot believe that people can be so very stupid. What can we do to help?