An Indomitable Beast

the Remarkable Journey of the Jaguar
by Alan Rabinowitz

This book seems a companion volume to Jaguar: One Man's Struggle to Establish the World First Jaguar Preserve. It was written many years later, but covers some of the same material and mentions many of the same key incidents. However this book moves much further, describing conservation efforts Rabinowitz was involved with for tigers and other wild cats before coming back to focus on jaguars again. He studied the history of the jaguar- from its ancient evolution through the many cultures that revered it in the "jaguar culture corridor". A lot of the book is about study results and meetings and reports made in effort to protect jaguars and the land they need, and help native peoples where jaguars exist learn to better live alongside them. He took things learned from people who co-existed well in one area with jaguars, and helped apply it to other areas. Much of all this, while very informative, is also really dry reading though (at least for me). I admit I skimmed a lot. I did enjoy some of the final chapters that delve into the nature of the jaguar, what distinguishes it from other big cats in the eyes of Rabinowitz and other men who have worked closely with it- behavior traits in particular. There is some folklore and legend in here too, and overall it is a hopeful story with successes secured and a positive look to the future. But the prior book Jaguar, about direct work in the field study, was in all a more personal story and thus more interesting. It's a narrative, this one is more along the lines of a very detailed report.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 3/5                  241 pages, 2014