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Posted By: Jo_WstBze Belize's Elusive Jaguars - 06/24/11 10:54 PM
Home to the world's first and only jaguar reserve, Belize has one of the healthiest populations of jaguars (Panthera onca) in Central America. Endowed with a brilliantly spotted velvet coat similar to that of a leopard, this elusive feline prowls the coasts and roams the lowland rainforests. The "yaguar" - meaning beast that kills with one leap - is well-adapted to its diverse habitats as it agilely and stealthily hunts its prey in trees or water, making it one of the few members of its family tolerant of water. Read more at: Belize's Elusive Jaguars
Posted By: Loansum-Al K Re: Belize's Elusive Jaguars - 06/24/11 11:57 PM
I know I posted this before, but it's something we will never forget:

A true story I'd like to share with you all:

A "National Geographic Moment" which I will explain further. My wife and I spent 2 nights at Mystic River Resort. Had we known what we were in for, we would have stayed a week! The resort is isolated and overlooks the Macal River. We decided to go down to the river and float on tethered tubes. While we were down at the river one of the staff brought us down a chess of ice cold beer, a very welcome sight since it was a very sunny day and warm. Now, for that "National Geographic Moment"�..we were standing on the edge of the river which is not very deep that time of year and about 75 yards away we saw a large whitetail deer enter the river. He was moving rather slowly and then started to dart back and forth. In hot pursuit was a black Jaguar, a very rare sighting in the middle of the day or anytime, as many of the locals in their lifetime have not seen a black Jaguar. The huge cat took down his prey and they thrashed in the river for several minutes. Then complete silence. We waited for several moments but did not see or hear anything. We decided to go back up to the resort and share our experience with Nadege & Capt. Tom. They were amazed as we were. Shortly after, Nadege took my wife and I on a tour of the grounds. We walked along the bank above the river and one of the workers who was grooming the beach below called up and said a deer had floated up onto the bank. We could only assume the deer, that exceeded 200 pounds, was too much for the Jaguar to pull up out of the river. This was a trip that we will never ever forget. A must, if you are planning on a Belize vacation!
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