Chris Hepburn
DCL
A jaguar—its habitat vanishing thanks to the "progress" of Homo sapiens—creeps onto a farm in Costa Rica. It kills and eats a calf to survive. Humans are united in outrage. The "pest" is hunted down, shot without either contemplation or penalty.
According to Defenders of Wildlife, the jaguar is "the largest cat in the Americas ... (it) has a compact body, a broad head and powerful jaws. Its coat is normally yellow and tan, but the color can vary from reddish brown to black. The spots on the coat are more solid and black on the head and neck and become larger rosette-shaped patterns along the side and back of the body." These magnificent cats are usually more than two-feet tall, can reach eight feet from nose to tip of tail, and range from 100 to 250 lbs.
Threats against the jaguar include: "Human population growth and agricultural expansion, as well as hunting and poaching by livestock ranchers. They are considered endangered throughout their entire range." Translation: humans clear the rainforest to create grazing ranges for livestock in the name of the meat-based diet. If a random beast—like a jaguar, for instance—were to do what comes naturally and kill one of "our" beasts, well...you know the rest.
How We Can Save the Jaguars:
The first step, of course, would be an accelerated move away from the animal-based diet. As more humans adopt a vegan lifestyle, the perceived need to destroy rainforests, slaughter livestock, and shoot jaguars (who would eat our livestock occasionally left unshot) slowly vanishes. In the meantime, groups like the Wildlife Conservation Society offer resources on other efforts to save creatures like the amazing jaguar.
