Sharon Matola

Sharon Matola (June 3, 1954 – March 21, 2021) was a biologist and environmentalist. 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. Motola graduated from New College of Florida in 1981 with a degree in Biology.
Early life.
Matola's father was a sales manager for National Brewing and her mother was an administrative assistant. In 1981, Matola obtained her bachelor's degree in biology from the New College of Florida in Sarasota.
Belize zoo.
Matola, the founder and driving force behind The Belize Zoo, Belize's only zoo, arrived in that country after a colorful career that included a stint with a Romanian lion-tamer and a circus tour through Mexico.
Matola was hired by filmmaker Richard Foster in 1982 to care for 20 animals being used in the making of a wildlife documentary film. When shooting of the film was completed, she was left to decide how to dispose of the animals, then habituated to humans and couldn't be released in the wild. So, Matola thought perhaps she could start a zoo and hung signs out on the road and waited to see who would show up. She soon realized what Belizeans knew about Belizean wildlife at the time was often more myth than fact and were unaware that country's deteriorating habitat threatened their populations. Matola understood that people are more likely to value their natural resources, if they met the animals that depended on them for their survival. She set out to build a zoo. With the blessing of the Government of Belize, who could not offer financial support, she began raising money from environmental groups.
The zoo is now home to over 125 native species, and instructs people about Belize's wildlife.
Other environmental work.
Matola fought to stop Belize's Chalillo Dam project. Her struggle was documented in the book "The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw: One Woman's Fight to Save the World's Most Beautiful Bird" (2008), 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 had also a weekly rock & roll show until August 2011 when the UK government moth-balled "Airport Camp", home base for BATSUB (British Army Training Support Unit Belize), in Ladyville, Belize.