The Jaguar's Shadow: Searching for a Mythic Cat [Hardcover]

Richard Mahler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 7, 2009

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.

 

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Over the course of 10 years, journalist and tour guide Mahler searched the Western Hemisphere for jaguars, finding recent photographs, claw marks and scat, and captive animals-but never spotted a single wild cat. Though jaguars once roamed from the southwestern U.S. through most of Central and South America, their range and numbers have dwindled to make them nearly invisible. Chronicling his travels, Mahler examines the creatures' contemporary challenges as well as the fossil record, folklore from Incan, Moche, Mayan, and other indigenous cultures, and present attempts to save the species. Mahler is a passionate advocate for environmental protection ("a planet with jaguars is infinitely richer than one without") but knows that he and his fellows are "competing against the human desire for jobs, homes, water, food, land, money, and other resources"). With many photographs, as well as details of travel through little-known territories, Mahler provides a fast-moving, ecological detective tale and a knowing conservationist wake-up call. B&w photos.
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From Booklist

Journalist Mahler admits that he is not a scientist and his book is not a science book. It is the story of a quest––an odyssey––in search of wild jaguars. In 1996, a mountain-lion hunter was following his dogs in the mountains of southern New Mexico, hot on the trail of what was thought to be a large lion. But he soon discovered the dogs had cornered a jaguar, the first seen in the U.S. in decades. A brief mention of this encounter in a newspaper Mahler saw set an obsession on fire, and he set off on his on-again, off-again pursuit of jaguars. As he talked with the “Jag Team” (officially the Jaguar Conservation Team), set up to photograph jaguars in “camera traps,” he learned that there have been sightings of more than one jaguar in the southwest. As Mahler travels to Belize, Mexico, Panama, as well as through the scientific literature, he imparts the folklore and science surrounding this largest of the New World cats. Did Mahler ever see his cat? Follow his journey to find out. --Nancy Bent

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 376 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press; 1st edition (September 7, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 030012225X
• ISBN-13: 978-0300122251
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #718,310 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Richard Mahler believes being a writer is the best job in the world. He sees it as a passport to explore new places, ideas, people, emotions, and perspectives. "I couldn't imagine doing anything else for a living," he says. For decades, Richard has used this passport to write about arts, culture, health, politics, conservation, travel, indigenous peoples, the media, and personal transformation. As a newspaper columnist, he tells stories of the interesting but little-known New Mexicans who make his state the most quirky and independent in the U.S. Richard has written thousands of articles for hundreds of print and on-line publications, in addition to being an independent radio producer and commentator. He has authored (or co-authored) eleven books, including a recipe-filled summary of Santa Fe's best restaurants, a travel guide to Palm Springs, meditations on the rewards of gardening and of aging, and a memoir about the 97 days he spent in the stillness and solitude of an alpine wilderness. When not writing, Richard is a free-lance editor, teacher of mindfulness-based stress reduction, and tour guide for visitors to historic Silver City, NM. He loves to hike in the deserts and mountains near his home atop the Continental Divide. Richard invites comments on his work via www.RichardMahler.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars starts slow and builds, November 22, 2009

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Fotofred (Tucson, AZ USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Jaguar's Shadow: Searching for a Mythic Cat (Hardcover)

I am boggled by all the 5-star reviews, although the book is so new I suspect all the reviewers are friends of the author who were asked to submit opinions. The book will be thoroughly enjoyable only if you have a deep interest in ancient Maya and Inca cultures. That is because roughly the first one third of the book, close to one hundred pages, relates in excruciating detail trips to see every single jaguar carving, cliff painting and totem in Latin America. If you are primarily interested in reading about the living jaguar, as I am, will you find this drawn-out section incredibly boring. If I had not been on an international flight with nothing else to read, I probably would have given up on the book entirely.

But I plowed on, and the second half of the book is quite interesting. This is where we (finally) search for the real thing, going on nature hikes and visiting a couple of Latin American zoos with rescued jags. We also meet a wide variety of researchers, conservationists, and ordinary folks throughout the region. If you are a big cat lover (as I am), you will enjoy most of the book, but I would recommend skipping chapters 6,7,9 entirely, and possibly skim-reading some of the preceding chapters.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In Pursuit of the Jaguar, November 14, 2009

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R. C. Haynes (North Carolina) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Jaguar's Shadow: Searching for a Mythic Cat (Hardcover)

This book is packed with solid information plus intense personal insight into the nature of this beautiful and elusive beast. Told with a gentle wit, The Jaguar's Shadow also takes us deep into the life of a writer fascinated by his non-human subject, encouraging us on every page to follow in his shadow as well. I love hearing from the many other people who have some connection with jaguars, and getting to know the cultures that have learned to co-habitate with the big cat. Kudos to Mr. Mahler for this important work!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful book!, September 20, 2009

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Book Lover - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Jaguar's Shadow: Searching for a Mythic Cat (Hardcover)

With infinite grace, deft, informative prose and an engagingly insightful narrative, Richard Mahler takes the reader along on his quest to see a jaguar in the wild. "For me, Panthera onca embodied the transcendent quality of Earth's deepest mysteries, of all in the natural world that is still pure, wild, and unmolested. " His helpless attraction to the big cat, coupled with all the hitches and glitches of his quest, provides the reader with adventure and an unexpectedly satisfying reward. This is a beautiful love letter to an animal that may soon inhabit our memories and dreams rather than our earth.