Jungle Dawn

Description

The Jaguar is the largest cat in the Americas. Although often mistaken for the leopard, jaguars are more heavily built and can be distinguished in that the rosettes in the fur are larger and have small dots within. They eat a variety of prey including peccary, monkeys or even turtles. They are not afraid of water and commonly swim rivers.

In the wild, their average life span is about 10 years. Experts estimate Belize has between 500 and 1000 jaguar.

I can’t help but wonder why jaguars have spots. Scientists would probably say it is so they can hide in the jungle. Their spotted fur imitates dapples of sunlight amid leaf patterns, I think, however, it’s an ancient code, a message sent from the gods. It can be deciphered only when intoxicated by the elixir of a garish green humid density of tangled life forms. When you drink this concoction, you can read the code which, as you will see, changes as the animal moves Jaguars were a central part of Mayan culture and religion. Their reputation for cunning, beauty and malevolent behavior has made them a legendary figure in many cultures down to our own.

The Jaguar car company recognized its debt to the animal for the use of its reputation for power and ultimate body confirmation to sell their product. They became active in conserving their company logo in the wild. Because of this and the efforts of many others, Belize has the only jaguar preserve in the world.

In 1982 a tiny kitten was found in the Mountain Pine Ridge area in the forest reserve. The last British Officer was leaving and the replacement Belizean Officer had no interest in raising a baby jaguar. There was not yet a Belize zoo and after the government decided returning the baby to the wild was not an option, they let us have her and with their permission, we kept her for 24 years until she died in April of 2006.

Her name was Tika. Her photo was seen all over Belize on posters promoting tourism. Also many well known nature calendars, books and magazines published her photo to plea for conservation of the rainforest and wildlife therein. Of course she is the subject of this paintings.

As I watched Tika walk and saw her spots change in shape, I’m got a message. It says “The earth is designed to sustain abundant life. As we care for each other and adhere to our Creator, so the earth will prosper”.