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CARL AZUZ: Fridays are awesome.
I'm Carl Azuz.
People are quitting their jobs.
There are jaguars in Belize.
If this weren't an explainer show,
we could end it right there.
But it is, so we're going to start by explaining
the ongoing great resignation.
It's happening in the US and beyond,
and it concerns people voluntarily
leaving their jobs in droves.
This February, 4.4 million people in America
quit what they were doing.
That's according to new information
from the US government.
It's not quite a record.
That occurred last November when 4.5 million resigned.
But the elevated quit rate does continue a trend set last year
when a record was broken.
Throughout 2021, almost 48 million Americans
decided to leave their jobs.
They weren't laid off or fired, and that was the most in a year
since the government began keeping track in 2001.
This doesn't mean they stopped working altogether so they
could watch TikTok videos.
For one thing, there are a lot of jobs open in the US--
almost two positions for every person who doesn't have a job.
So experts say because there's an increased demand
for workers, at least in some fields,
people are more confident that if they quit what they're
doing, they'll be able to find something
else and something better.
There's a labor shortage in several industries-- retail
and restaurants, hotels, and health care manufacturing,
education, and transportation.
Many employers in these fields have increased their pay
and offered additional benefits to attract new hires.
The resignation rate isn't across all industries.
The US Chamber of Commerce says in stable, higher paying
fields, there's less movement.
But for those where there are lots of quits,
analysts say there are several reasons why in addition to pay.
Some workers want more flexibility.
They liked working from home after COVID spread,
so they want a job that won't require them to come
back to the office full time.
Some employees have left their jobs
to care for elderly relatives or because they
had trouble finding childcare.
Last year, some said their employers'
COVID vaccine requirement was a reason they'd leave.
And many have said they want a job that's
more personally fulfilling.
One analyst interviewed by CNN said he expects resignation
rates to stay high for a while.
This isn't just happening in America.
Resignations have increased from the United Kingdom
to Australia.
That nation's government says the rate
of people changing jobs is 10% higher than it
was before the pandemic spread.
And France saw a record number of resignations
during the third quarter of last year.
But one employment studies expert
says the quit rate in Europe was also high in the early-2000s,
so it may not be as extensive overall as it is in the US.
10-second trivia.
Which of these civilizations existed in ancient Belize?
Maya, Inca, Aztec, or Indus.
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In the Central American nation of Belize,
as well as parts of Mexico and Guatemala,
is where you'd find the Maya.
And we're headed to Belize for our next story this Friday.
It's the only nation that has a jaguar preserve.
And that's located in a Mayan region
of the central part of Belize.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature
considers jaguars to be a near threatened species,
meaning that without efforts to preserve them,
they could become threatened in the years ahead.
The IUCN believes that Jaguar numbers have decreased
by 20% to 25% over the past two decades,
but there are people working to ensure the species has
space to thrive.
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- Growing up surrounded by forest in rural Belize,
Reynold Cal heard stories of an animal sacred and fearsome.
REYNOLD CAL: I'm a Kikji Maya, one of the three
Maya tribes in Belize.
So I would go in the forest at a very young age.
And when I saw those big jaguar tracks,
usually give me a fear in my heart.
- Now, Cal's job is to track and protect these animals.
REYNOLD CAL: These are ancient Maya drawings.
The jaguar is the symbol for strength and might.
- It's a passion that's more than skin deep.
REYNOLD CAL: These tattoos are from actual jaguar patterns.
This one is from a jaguar that we call Romeo.
It has a heart shape.
It's part of me now.
- Carl is the manager of Runaway Creek Nature
Reserve in Central Belize.
It's part of a crucial wildlife trail called the Maya Forest
Corridor, which connects protected habitats in the north
and south of the country.
Corridors like this offer a lifeline
for far-roaming jaguars, to more prey, mates, and territory.
Today, Cal is working with Emma Sanchez
of Panthera, a global wildcat conservation organization.
And they are on the prowl for jaguars.
Conservation experts say that jaguar
populations are declining across their range from Mexico
to Argentina.
But not here, says Sanchez.
EMMA SANCHEZ: We consider Belize a stronghold for jaguar
population because they're found in all of the protected areas
and even outside of protected areas.
ELMA KAY: Populations of wildlife
need genetic diversity to be able to survive.
You get that by having mixing of jaguars
from the northern part of Belize with jaguars
of the southern part of Belize.
And that means that wildlife need
to find their way through that tiny sliver of forest.
- Once surrounded by jungle, the Maya forest corridor
is now a bottleneck less than six miles wide.
Over the past 10 to 15 years, biologist Elma Kay
has seen much of the forest chopped away.
ELMA KAY: Imagine you're getting squeezed on both sides,
right-- it's mostly due to large scale
mechanized mono-crop or agriculture
that's taking place.
The last remaining gateway for those animals--
- Kay has been working with a coalition
of local and international supporters
to buy up patches of Belize for conservation.
ELMA KAY: We are here at the Cox Lagoon Wetland,
which is actually a very critical and important part
of a 30,000-acre parcel of land that we have just purchased
to protect in perpetuity for the people
and government of Belize.
- Thanks to this effort, and existing conservation sites
like Runaway Creek, Kay says just under half
of the Maya Forest Corridor is now protected.
ELMA KAY: The hope is the last thing to keep you standing.
We have to get up and do the things
that we want to see happen.
- She is hopeful that one day, this whole precarious patchwork
of jaguar habitat will be safe from destruction.
[music playing]
CARL AZUZ: In 2005, Pink Floyd did something off the wall.
He flew the coop from his enclosure at a Kansas zoo.
Pink Floyd's a flamingo.
He's been on the loose for the past 17 years.
But on March 10 on the Gulf Coast of Texas,
wildlife officials say a flamingo was captured on camera
wearing leg band number 492.
That's a match for the fugitive Pink Floyd.
In a Facebook post, the Texas agency
says it looks like he returned from the dark side of the moon.
Looks like he's joined the Beach Boys, the Birds,
the Sandpipers, the Turtles, Herman's Hermit Crabs,
and the rest of the animals working out all the Kinks
to go on Supreme safaris without a need
for a Jefferson Airplane.
The Searchers may go on around the Atlantics,
but you know you'll always find the Flamingos
singing Surf Rock.
I'm Carl Azuz.
Swansboro High School gets today's shoutout.
The Pirates are watching from Swansboro, North Carolina.
We hope your weekend ain't just for the birds.
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