|
Jaguar: One Man's Struggle To Establish The World's First Jaguar Preserve | 
 enlarge | Author: Alan Rabinowitz
Publisher: Island Press
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
Buy Used: $9.52
You Save: $20.43 (68%)
New (16) Used (16) from $9.52
Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 418979
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Pages: 416
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 5.9 x 1.1
ISBN: 1559638028
Dewey Decimal Number: 333.959755
EAN: 9781559638029
ASIN: 1559638028
Publication Date: February 2, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
| |
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
In the early 1980s, working at the behest of the noted biologist George Schaller, Alan Rabinowitz traveled to the newly independent Central American nation of Belize to study jaguars, once extensive throughout the Americas, in a remote, densely forested part of that country. ("If the world had any ends, [Belize] would surely be one of them" Aldous Huxley once wrote.) There, deep within mountainous jungle, Rabinowitz conducted a thorough study of the jaguar's natural history, studying its diet (made up, he writes, of a surprising quantity of armadillos), movements, and territories, and learning the ways of the much-feared cat. He also learned a little something about himself--discovering, he writes, that "once I had overcome my initial fears of this dense, dark green world, I started to enjoy it." Over his two-year stay, Rabinowitz developed plans to establish a forest sanctuary that would be free of the jaguar's principal enemies--not deadly fer-de-lance snakes or other large predators, but loggers, poachers, and cattle ranchers, all of whom had their reasons for wanting to see jaguars disappear from the region. Although he was successful in convincing the Belizean government to authorize the Cockscomb preserve, Rabinowitz writes in the afterword to this revised edition of Jaguar (first published in 1986), the jaguar haven came at a cost to Mayan people who lived in the area and were forced to relocate. His memoir will be of great interest not only to admirers of the jaguar, a magnificent animal by any measure, but also to students of international ecological issues. --Gregory McNamee
Product Description
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. Within two years, he had succeeded. In "Jaguar" he provides the only first-hand account of a scientist's experience with jaguars in the wild. Originally published in 1986, this edition includes a new preface and epilogue by the author that bring the story up to date with recent events in the region and around the world.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 9 more reviews...
 A great book September 1, 2001
Marceau Ratard (Metairie, LA USA)
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
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.
The Heart of the Jungle November 29, 2004
Dakota (Southern California)
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
"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.
 Sensationalist nonsense November 4, 2000
James Scott (Florida, USA)
10 out of 20 found this review helpful
I have spent many years traveling in Belize. Like many people, I was fascinated by Alan Rabinowitz's book, "Jaguar" when it was first published. However, the book reads more like fiction than a factual account. Rabinowitz portrays himself in a flattering light as the savior of these magnificent beasts from the heathen natives. The fact is that Rabinowitz was directly or indirectly responsible for the deaths of all the jaguars he captured due to inexperience or plain negligence; this is well documented by the locals working with him at the time. The fact is that he had little to do with the establishment of the jaguar reserve in Belize, that was instead the result of hard work by many other people to whom no credit was given. The people of Belize whom he slandered in this book owe him nothing, and in fact, he probably has no friends in this economically-impoverished but culturally-rich country. If you like fiction, this book will provide you with minimum satisfaction. If you like to read about nature, don't waste your time or money on this one.
No yawns in this field journal September 4, 2000
margaret eisenberger (chesterfield, missouri USA)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
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.
recommend January 31, 2001
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
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.
|
|
|
|
| |
