If somebody asked me when the most afraid moment in my life is, I can say that time when I saw jaguar in the middle of forest for research. I have learned and knew how their behavior looks like so that I was so surprised about it. These days, these jaguars face threatened and endangered.

The jaguars are the largest cat in the Western Hemisphere and usually have a yellow-brownish in color with black spot. They have the heavy muscled forearms and shoulders to capture its prey well. In addition to that, its tongue is rough to peel away the prey's skin and has loose belly to avoid injury by kicking from its prey.

Their home is Texas, Arizona, the southern part of California, New Mexico and Central and South America. However, the largest population of them lives in the Amazon rain forests. Jaguars are good hunter, climber and well swimmer, which is helpful to catch the fish.

Who can be the enemy to this scary animal, jaguar?

It is human. Normally, they don't attach human unless they feel in danger. In particular, in 60's and 70's, people hunted them for fur to make beautiful coat, which was recorded around 18,000 jaguars killed. There are still poaching but it is not often like before these days.

Last year, one of jaguars living in Pantanal in Brazil, named Shally, was found dead in river. The authorities consider the suspects as drug traffickers who run cocaine between Bolivia and Brazil. The conservation and the Pantanal ranchers help each other to protect jaguars from the region's drug trade.

Lastly, let me introduce the interesting mention of one of the cattle farmers in Pantanal.

"Now people realize that if the jaguar dies, so does the rancher. Jaguars can eat all the cattle they want off my ranch "

                                                           -Jamil Rodrigues da Costa

Source : Al Jazeera America