Mob Burns Croc Sanctuary— on Psychic's Advice

American-owned refuge in Belize torched
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 8, 2010 4:00 AM CDT
Mayan Mob Burns Crocodile Sanctuary
The Roses set up the sanctuary for endangered Belizean crocodiles in 2004.   (?Ken_Mayer)

An American-owned crocodile sanctuary in Belize was turned into a smoking ruin by an angry mob of indigenous Mayans. Truckloads of villagers armed with shotguns and machetes torched all the buildings on the 36-acre sanctuary after a local psychic told them that the Americans had fed two missing children to the crocs, CNN reports.

Cherie and Vince Rose, who moved to Belize and set up the American Crocodile Education Sanctuary in 2004, were away rescuing endangered crocodiles at the time. The couple say they have lost everything—apart from their two dogs, which survived the blaze—but they have no intention of giving up. "We are going to stay in Belize," Cherie says. "We are going to fight this. I'm not abandoning those crocodiles down there." (More Belize stories.)

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