Jaguar!

Jaguars are pretty uncommon these days in Panama.  Most have been hunted, and the remaining ones keep to remote areas, far from humans.  This past month, though, a jaguar was shot only 100 yards from a primary school in the nearby district of Los Pozos.  Jaguars are a protected species, so shooting one can bring a jail sentence, unless, of course, you shoot it in self-defense.  The person who shot the jaguar claimed that it killed two dogs and was attacking his nephew when he shot it.  The nephew says that he saw the jaguar kill the two dogs and tried to defend himself with a machete. He was losing the battle and shouted for his uncle, who happened to be nearby with a rifle.

The authorities are investigating the incident, and have suggested an alternate explanation.  They are suspicious because the nephew didn't even have a scratch on him.  They also wonder how the uncle just happened to be there with his rifle at the right time.  It is possible that the two were out hunting a jaguar, using dogs as bait.  This sounds barbaric to us, but dogs here in Panama don't have the same status that they do in the US, especially in rural areas.  Often there is not enough food for the family, and the dogs have to fend for themselves.  The most that a dog would get would be leftover table scraps.  

This picture shows the uncle with his trophy.  

They also uploaded a video of themselves clowning around with their guns and the body of the jaguar.  After viewing the video, it seems pretty apparent that they were hunters, not peasants surprised by the jaguar.

This news was alarming enough, but this past week things happened much closer to home.  On the dirt path leading past the swimming hole where we often walk, a student said that he saw a jaguar.  There was no other evidence, and no one believed him.  This came so quickly after the news of the other jaguar that it was dismissed as power of suggestion. 

Three days later, however, a woman was riding her horse on the same path on her way home to a nearby village and also happened upon a jaguar.  Her horse reared up, turned around and ran back to town.  She was lucky to stay in the saddle.  The authorities investigated and found a footprint of a jaguar which measured 5 inches from front to back.  This corresponds to approximately a 75 pound cat, which is big enough to do serious damage to horse or rider.

Fortunately incidents between humans and jaguars are extremely rare.  They prefer to keep far away from humans, and generally only attack small animals.  They also move around in a very large area.  It is estimated that this jaguar is now quite far away, so there is no need to worry about our safety :)   

Heather recently made a presentation for the National TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) Congress at the Universidad Latina in Panama City.  Her topic was "Teaching Phonics with Dr. Seuss."  The audience consisted of Panamanian teachers of English in public and private schools and universities. She had a lot of fun preparing the presentation and the books brought back great memories.

Heather with a conference attendee.

That's it for now!

Steve and Heather