Book Review: Jaguar

An individual animal is safe in a zoo.  A species, however, is not saved in one.  Zoo and aquarium professionals know that the survival of any species cannot be ensured solely by keeping a population alive in captivity – of greater importance is safeguarding species in the wild.  To this end, many zoos and aquariums fundraise in order to support conservation and research in the field.  Few institutions can match the commitment to in situ conservation as the Wildlife Conservation Society.  In turn, few researchers fielded by WCS have been more celebrated than Alan Rabinowitz.

Currently the CEO of Panthera, an NGO devoted to the protection of big cats, Rabinowitz has studied wild carnivores in the field for over thirty years, with notable accomplishments in Latin America and Southeast Asia.  He is perhaps most famous, however, for his work with jaguars in Belize, a study which cumulated in the establishment of the world’s first jaguar preserve in the Cockscomb Mountains.  The struggle to establish this sanctuary is described in his book, Jaguar.

This isn’t a technical book full of charts of skull measurements and range maps – that’s published elsewhere.  Instead, it’s a window into the life of a field biologist, as seen by Rabinowitz.  We experience his triumph at each discover, such as live-trapping jaguars for radio-collaring – his agony at the death of each animal, and the alternating despair and elation he feels as he tries to safeguard a future for jaguars in the tiny Central American nation.  He survives accidents that prove nearly fatal and battles the depression and isolation that often haunt a biologist far away from home, and struggles to find acceptance among the Mayan Indians he lives alongside.  In one of the book’s most tragic chapters, he loses the life of one of his assistants to the bite of a fer-de-lance.  Above all, Jaguar, explains how one man found a purpose in life in protecting one of the most majestic predators in the world, a purpose which has since grown and carried him on to other achievements.

In an age when so much of the news concerning wildlife is full of defeat and despair, Rabinowitz shows readers that there is hope for wildlife, even the largest of predators.  Such efforts, he shows, are unlikely to succeed without the support and benefit of local peoples.  Rabinowitz worked hand-in-hand with local villagers, employing them as guides and assistants.  He shared his knowledge about jaguars with them, and was willing to learn from them in turn.  The resultant Cockscomb Basin Jaguar Preserve benefited not only the jaguars and the species that shared their habitat, but also the local Mayans, who were able to obtain employment and an improved standard of living by utilizing the reserve for ecotourism, rather than lumber.

Zoos receive little to no mention in the book, but Jaguar remains a powerful reminder of what a zoo or aquarium devoted to wildlife conservation can achieve.  Although Rabinowitz has since left WCS, his legacy has been not only the creation of parks and the discovery of new species, but the inspiration of a new generation of field biologists and conservationists eager to do their part to help save the world’s wildlife. 

Jaguar at Amazon.com

PS: In 2014, Rabinowitz follows up with a new book on his favorite cat, An Indomitable Beast: The Remarkable Journey of the Jaguar.  This book deals much more heavily with the role of the jaguar is culture and legend; it also has a chapter pertaining to jaguars in zoos.  Rabinowitz does make a few disparaging remarks about jaguars in captivity throughout the book (a little ungracious, I thought, considering who funded his early work), but he realizes that zookeepers are likely to have some unique insights into the cats and their personalities.  

(Also, to be fair, Rabinowitz lobs his barbs at the zoos of his childhood - the Bronx Zoo doesn't display jaguars anymore, and hasn't for some time - as well as shoddy  tourist traps in Central America.  He doesn't really say pass judgement on modern, accredited zoos, except to express concern that someday, that could be all that remains of big cats.)

And indeed, he finds many keepers sharing common themes - jaguars are warier, cagier, less sociable, tenser, more investigatory, and, in a pinch, fiercer than the other big cats.  He also receives fresh confirmation of their fabled jaw power, hearing how they easily destroy toys and enrichment items that withstand the assaults of lions and tigers.  Keepers comment on how jaguars always watch them, while lions and other big cats quickly accept their caretakers as part of their routine.  All of this meshes pretty closely with my experience with captive jaguars.   The other big cats become social, sometimes downright friendly, in captivity.  Jaguars always make me nervous.