On Wednesday the Belize Tourism Board (BTB) confirmed the safe capture of an escaped jaguar that is responsible for the mauling death of a US citizen.
The animal was captured by the Belize Forest Service late Tuesday evening in one of several steel mesh traps baited with meat. The snares were set west of Belize City, and the animal was recovered.
The 130 pound, four-year-old jaguar named Max escaped from an animal rescue center near Belmopan when Hurricane Richard uprooted a tree that fell on the animal’s cage.
According to AP, the Belize national police force identified the victim as Bruce Cullerton, an American with Belizean citizenship. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in Belize confirmed that “a U.S. citizen died from a jaguar attack.”
The victim’s body was found Tuesday with bite marks on the neck and arms. The jaguar had dragged it into the bushes near the rescue center.
