Jaguar: Struggle and Triumph in the Jungles of Belize

by Alan Rabinowitz and Rabinowitz Alan

Book Overview

In 1983, zoologist Alan Rabinowitz ventured into the rain forest of Belize, determined to study the little-known jaguar in its natural habitat and to establish the world's first jaguar preserve.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0877958254
• ISBN13: 9780877958253
• Release Date: January 1986
• Publisher: Arbor House Publishing
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 1.60 lbs.

Customer Reviews

The Heart of the Jungle

"Jaguar" is the fascinating story of one scientist's journey to study and protect the elusive jaguar, the third largest cat in the world. Written like a book of fiction, "Jaguar" reads smoothly, capturing your attention and curiosity with its first-person portrayal of life in an alien world: the jungles of Belize. It is peopled with the Maya, a culture rich in history yet suffering poverty, disease, and insignificance in modern times. And in this world exists the jaguar, a powerful cat who is rarely seen and is not a man-eater, yet is hunted almost to extinction for its exquisite spotted fur and because, quite simply, people fear it. I read "Jaguar" in about 2 days, and fell completely in love with its spirit. The author, a young scientist, struggled hard to successfully understand the lives of these cats within its world and to keep it alive, often to his own personal tragedies. His description of the jungle is unromantic and riveting, as are the terrible hardships that go with it. I will never forget all the diseases, snakes, and parasites than run amok in this story, practically characters of their own. One lesson I came back with is how thankful I am to live in a country with exceptional sanitation and medical care. "Jaguar" is haunting. You can't finish it without wishing to enter that dark, dangerous jungle of the majestic jaguar. It draws out the adventurer in you. It stirs your compassion.

An excellent read

This book will appeal to readers who have a specific interest in jaguars and those with more overall conservation leanings. Dr. Rabinowitz is a pioneer in research on this elusive animal and his groundbreaking work shows just how vital the jaguar is to rainforest ecologist, and the devestating impact man has had on this magnificent species. The book is also a remarkable story about the animals and people of the rainforest, who we get to know through Dr. Rabinowitz's exciting narrative. I found myself laughing and crying all at once and was not able to put this book down!

A great book

This book really gives you a feel for how conservation based research is carried out in the tropics. The research was carried out in the early 1980's in the Cockscomb basin in Belize. The area is now a jaguar preserve and if your headed to Belize it is a must see. The book describes the 2 years that Dr. Rabinowitz spent researching jaguar movements in Belize. You really get a feel for how conservation research interacts and sometimes conflicts with local villagers, the government, and how it is preserved in the US. I reads like an adventure story and is not boring. You certainly don't need to be biologist to like this book. I think that anybody could take something away from this story. If your going to Belize, then you should really consider adding this to the list of books to read before you go.

recommend

The ability to change the world we live in to the betterment of others--human or otherwise--is something many of us aspire toward. Mr. Rabinowitz accomplishes this very goal in this wonderfully told account of how he initiated the creation of a far-reaching preserve for predatory jungle cats. Mr. Rabinowtiz seems to understand that human destiny is linked to our compassion for our fellow species. His struggle to prevail over government red tape, self-interested forest wardens and even the near-sighted needs of indigenous peoples is told here with great compassion and drama. The author's ability to criticize his own shortcomings and self-doubts lends this work its true strength and gives the reader insight into how we might all try to do better and work for good in our lives.

No yawns in this field journal

This book is a record of Alan's efforts to set aside land for the jaguar in Belize. It is also a breath-taking, hair-raising, heart-breaking roller coaster ride through the ups and downs in the daily life of a field research biologist. His narrow escapes leave you gasping. You have to lay the book down and sob when he cradles a dying jaguar in his arms. The scenes in this book play over and over in your mind as clearly as if you had seen it in a movie, as when a he has to escape from a jaguar which unexpectedly charges him after recovering from the tranquilizeer he had injected. He is as macho as they come and yet he is not afraid to admit to moments of bias, of ignorance, of impatience and frustration, of fear, or of failure. He incorporates the scientific data he collects along with cultural observations of the Maya people he works with. His brushes with the supernatural are surprising, coming from a scientist, and yet in keeping with his open minded nature.