Sharon Matola

Sharon Matola (June 3, 1954 – March 21, 2021) was an American-born Belizean biologist, environmentalist, and zookeeper. She was the founding director of the Belize Zoo and Tropical Education Center, a zoo which was started in 1983 to protect native animals that had been used in a documentary film in Belize. Matola graduated from New College of Florida in 1981 with a degree in biology.

Early life Matola was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on June 3, 1954. Her father was a sales manager for the National Brewing Company and her mother was an administrative assistant. With the blessing of the Government of Belize, which could not offer financial support, she began raising money from environmental groups to build and support the zoo.

By 1996 the zoo was home to over 125 native species. Singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett and actor Harrison Ford became supporters of the zoo. The zoo eventually was renamed the Belize Zoo and Tropical Education Center, reflecting its mission of teaching people about Belize's wildlife.

Other work

Matola served as a consultant for the filming of the 1986 movie The Mosquito Coast, bringing her and the Belize Zoo to the attention of Harrison Ford and prompting him to become a supporter.

Matola fought unsuccessfully to stop Belize's Chalillo Dam project; the dam was constructed between 2002 and 2005. Her struggle was documented in the 2008 book The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw: One Woman's Fight to Save the World's Most Beautiful Bird by Bruce Barcott.

Matola began to contribute to BFBS Radio in Belize in 1992, starting with a popular wildlife series called Walk on the Wildside, in which she explored the lives of Belize's flora and fauna. She also had a weekly rock and roll radio show that she broadcast from Airport Camp — the home base for British Army Training and Support Unit Belize (BATSUB), in Ladyville, Belize — until August 2011, when the government of the United Kingdom closed the camp.

Matola wrote children's books centering around the character Hoodwink the Owl.

Personal life

Matola's marriage to Jack Schreier ended in divorce. She had no children. She became a naturalized Belizean citizen, and lived on the zoo's property. She said that her favorite animal was the harpy eagle.

Death

Matola died of a heart attack at a hospital in Belmopan, Belize, on March 21, 2021, at the age of 66.

In media

"The Reef...and the Rainforest," a 1992 episode of the PBS television series Return to the Sea, includes an interview with Matola and footage of the Belize Zoo.