Jaguars can't be tamed in the manner that lions, tigers, and even leopards can be. They're much more unpredictable.  That's why you don't see them in circus acts. You don't even often see them in zoos, because they're not a good exhibition animal. They're a lone, solitary, almost moody type of species.

There was recently one jaguar in the United States, his name is El Jefe.  He made his home here for 4 years, but because there are no others here, he returned to Mexico. The species has been completely extirpated in the United States, so his appeareance was celebrated by conservationists.   Unfortunately, there are so many obstacles to him returning to the US.  Highways, hunters, the border wall, and in Arizona’s Santa Rita Mountains all wildlife is threatened by the construction of a copper mine.  

I read about these powerful cats and their sad story here in this country.  Imagine them all the way up into California and south through Florida. These beauties were famed and legendary.  Unlike other cats, they pierce the skulls of their prey with one powerful bite. Pound for pound, the bite of a jaguar is the most powerful of the big cats, even more than that of a tiger and a lion. They can take the whole skull off larger animals like tapirs or cows.  But my jaguar wants to play with a butterfly.

Thanks to Artists Wildlife Reference Piictures for the lovely photo of the cat.