An indomitable beast
Subtitle: the remarkable journey of the jaguar
By: Alan Rabinowitz
Publisher: Island Press
Published: 2014
Language: eng
Number of pages: 241
ISBN-13: 9781597269964
Subjects: Social aspects; Wildlife conservation; Conservation; Jaguar
Description: Overview:  The jaguar is one of the most mysterious and least-known big cats of the world. The largest cat in the Americas, it has survived an onslaught of environmental and human threats partly because of an evolutionary history unique among wild felines, but also because of a power and indomitable spirit so strong, the jaguar has shaped indigenous cultures and the beliefs of early civilizations on two continents. In An Indomitable Beast: The Remarkable Journey of the Jaguar, big-cat expert Alan Rabinowitz shares his own personal journey to conserve a species that, despite its past resilience, is now on a slide toward extinction if something is not done to preserve the pathways it prowls through an ever-changing, ever-shifting landscape dominated by humans. Rabinowitz reveals how he learned from newly available genetic data that the jaguar was a single species connected genetically throughout its entire range from Mexico to Argentina, making it unique among all other large carnivores in the world. In a mix of personal discovery and scientific inquiry, he sweeps his readers deep into the realm of the jaguar, offering fascinating accounts from the field. Enhanced with maps, tables, and color plates, An Indomitable Beast brings important new research to life for scientists, anthropologists, and animal lovers alike. This book is not only about jaguars, but also about tenacity and survival. From the jaguar we can learn better strategies for saving other species and also how to save ourselves when faced with immediate and long-term catastrophic changes to our environment.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 209-224) and index.
Table of contents: title: List of illustrations; title: Prologue; title: In the beginning; title: Pleistocene jaguar corridor; title: First people of the jaguar; title: When jaguars talked to man; title: Conquest of jaguar land; title: Killing grounds; title: Into the jaguar's world; title: Meals on the hoof; title: Thinking to scale; title: Underground railway of the jaguar; title: Borderland jaguars; title: In search of jaguarness; title: Reluctant warrior; title: Survival in a changing world; title: Glossary; title: Bibliography; title: Acknowledgments; title: About the author; title: Index.