Tonight, the phantom Ostrich of the West has finally been revealed - and 7News went to the farm today.

The three Ostriches kept in a pen on Nancy Marin's farm are her attempt to start breeding the animal as both poultry and a source of leather, among other bi-products.

But she's having a hard time getting started because of what she believes to be the government's close-mindedness.

She's also been charged upwards of $5,000 BZD for the required monitoring of the animals by an as yet unknown department, likely BAHA.

And in the meantime her possession of the animal is effectively illegal. Nevertheless, she invited Cherisse Halsall and cameraman Codie Noralez up to the farm to get a glimpse of a bird that's truly alien to the Belizean landscape. Here's what our team saw:

This is Belize People's Front's party leader Nancy Marin's farm, it's home to a menagerie of animals, including geese, giant rabbits, and even peacocks.

But more recently there's been a new addition to the farm, an animal that some would call exotic but one that Nancy sees a merely poultry.

Yup it's the long rumored Belizean Ostrich - a phantom up until now - but as real as flesh and feathers. Marin says she acquired these at around $2,000 each from an unnamed purveyor who had illegally imported them from Mexico.

I'm standing inside an Ostrich pen, a Belizean Ostrich pen.

And while these animals have been in the national conversation for quite a few months now it's certainly not the first time they've been imported to Belize. It's just the first time that their existence has been put on the record. Their owner Nancy Marin applied for a permit to breed them for livestock but she's only been ** Offerred** the type of permit to keep them as an exotic pet.

But Marin says that the permit being offered doesn't do anything for her because her plan is to rear these giant birds for an agro-industry.

Nancy Marin - Aspiring Ostrich Breeder
"And so what m I going to do with it, sit and look at it, that's not what I applied for. I don't want a permit to keep a wildlife, this is not a wild life this is a livestock. I want to farm it because I want to make money off of it and I want to create employment in this country with this. And I don't know what part of that they don't understand but they try to make it impossible, so every time government pretends the they are going to be nice and they are going to give you something but behind the scenes they are charging me an additional 5000 dollars for monitoring but they don't want to tell me or who will conduct the monitoring, because there's nobody qualified in forestry or in that entire ministry to conduct monitoring."

And that monitoring will be absolutely necessary because, as with anything new, there are legitimate fears about these animals and the impact they could have on the Belizean ecosystem

Celso Poot
"The problems exotic have caused to natural ecosystems, to natural systems, while I haven't seen and I don't know the purpose of the ostriches that are being imported into Belize,I cannot comment on why their here what they are doing here but I can say that the Belize Zoo and Tropical Education centre and I'm sure most of the conservation community in Belize would say no to exotic species in Belize. We have an issue in Belize with enforcement, if we cannot enforce for the native wildlife, how are we going to enforce management of exotics? That's a disaster in the making for us."

Nancy Marin
"As a pet owner and a farmer I'll tell you that if my cat goes missing, I go out looking for it. My dog went out of the gate and I had my whole neighborhood searching for it, we had it all over social media, I was about to call you guys to find my dog. There's no way that any farmer or pet owner with enough conscience would let an animal go and we would leave it. How can an animal like this get loss? Do you think I'm going to sit here and say oh an ostrich got away and what ever, no, we would go find it. If the animal get out of hand we need to sacrifice it the more meat for us."

And those pressing concerns about Ostrich importation were all considered by BAHA's researchers when they determined minimal risk. Here's the opinion that we got from the Director of the Animal Health Department earlier today.

Miguel Depaz - Director Animal Health Department, BAHA
"An Ostrich is a bird a flightless bird and we have an industry to protect, an industry that worth perhaps more that 600 million dollars with direct cost and infrastructure and equipment and what have you. So we have a industry to protect and we must determine the risk when we import ostrich, so it was our responsibility to conduct a risk analysis. At times, risk analysis takes long, at times it could be very short. In this instance, it took us some while to conclude the risk analysis and the conclusion of that risk analysis is that the risk is insignificant."

But despite that minimal endorsement from BAHA, Nancy still has a long way to go before she'll convince forestry to remove those stipulations and until such time as she accepts the permit they've offered, she is in fact holding these ostriches illegally.

She says she took a big risk in allowing us to put them on the record but she believes it's a necessary one that will familiarize the public with this species.

Nancy Marin
"The more farmers start to pick up the ostrich, the bigger the industry becomes, the more feasible, the better for our economy, they can tax us on it, that's fine, they can do what they want but don't try to put high prices and fees and things to try to prevent us from doing new. They promised us new industries, they made a lot of promises to us and it is not fair that they try to block us, it's simply not fair."

Not fair to her because there are other ostrich farms in the country - flying under the radar - so to speak. So, why should Marin be made to give her birds up?

Nancy Marin
"I do believe that it is because of who I am, I think that I have been told by the highest office in Belize that some of the ministers hold grudges on me, that I've embarrassed them, that one of them think that I am intimidating, I'm just a simple woman how can I intimidate a big powerful man but at the end of the day, that is their opinion and this is where we are but it's not fair and I'm not going to let them discourage me, I'm not going to let them stop me, this is my country and I will fight them and I will survive and maybe I'm just a simple woman standing against all these men but I'm not afraid of them, I'm not afraid of the consequences which is why I allow you guys to come and see that I do have ostriches, I'm not going to hide it and I wish that the men that have the ostriches in Belize can be brave and come forward and say I have ostriches because you've made it impossible for us to do it the right way, so this is the way we're doing it."

Minister of Sustainable Development Orlando Habet told us quote:

"Ostrich farming is new to Belize. Therefore, we must ensure that all requirements are met and that a management plan is set out if we intend to breed, rear, and produce Ostriches and their products and by-products. The fact that Ostriches are already in Belize, albeit illegally, does not allow for the legal process to be shoved under and to do another wrong, for as the saying goes, two wrongs do not make a right."

He says that while he is quote: "not necessarily opposed to Ostrich farming in Belize, I am rather trying my best to ensure that all laws and regulations are followed and that my Ministry which is responsible [...]does its due diligence." End quote.

Marin claims to have commissioned a $1,000.00 BAHA report on the risk analysis and feasibility of Ostrich Farming, one she says she's yet to get access to.

Information from personnel at the forestry department - which is responsible for wildlife - is that while Marin has expressed concern over the fees, the permit is for 5 years, and over that time, their monitoring for compliance to ensure that the operation is regulated, breaks down to $19 per month. They go on to say that there will be special requirements if exportation is to be considered.