The Community Baboon Sanctuary (CBS) is unlike any other protected area or wildlife sanctuary in Belize. The nature and functioning of the CBS are completely embedded within the seven Belize River Valley communities that comprise it and it is inextricably linked to the Kriol culture and history of the region.
The sanctuary nature of the CBS exists because of the long-held cultural appreciation for the black howler monkeys (Alouatta pigra) by the people that co-inhabit the region. Villagers in the Belize River Valley have never hunted howlers for food and rarely engaged in capturing them for pets or the pet trade. In fact, there is a deep-seated appreciation and enjoyment of the howlers and they have become part of the fabric of the rural lifestyle along the Belize River.
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