The Jaguar's Shadow: Searching for a Mythic Cat

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.