In the tradition of Peter Matthiessen's The Snow Leopard an intimate portrait of the endangered exotic and elusive jaguar
When the nature writer Richard Mahler discovers that wild jaguars are prowling a remote corner of his home state of New Mexico he embarks on a determined quest to see in the flesh a big beautiful cat that is the stuff of legend--yet verifiably real.
Mahler's passion sets in motion a years-long adventure through trackless deserts steamy jungles and malarial swamps as well as a confounding immersion in centuries-old debates over how we should properly regard these powerful predators: as varmints or as icons trophies or gods? He is drawn from border badlands south to Panama's rain forest along a route where the fate of nearly all wildlife now rests in human hands. Mahler's odyssey introduces him to unrepentant poachers pragmatic ranchers midnight drug-runners ardent conservationists trance-induced shamans hopeful biologists stodgy bureaucrats academic philosophers macho hunters and gentle Maya Indians. Along the way he is forced to reconsider the true meaning of his search--and the enduring symbolism of the jaguar.
Richard Mahler is an award-winning writer, editor, and tour guide based in Silver City, New Mexico. He is the author or co-author of ten books, and his reporting on the environment, health, travel, arts, and culture also circulates via newspapers, magazines, the Internet, and public radio.