The story of jaguar at Banana Bank goes about as far back as one wants to go, back to the time of the Mayan when the B’alams in the Quiche Maya tradition were the four gods who made possible the creation of man after two previous failed attempts. They were known as B’alam Agab (Night Jaguar) B’alam Quitze (Smiling Jaguar) Iqi B’alam (Dark Jaguar) and Mahucatah.  The jaguar was held as sacred because of it’s uncanny ability to be elusive and thereby struck fear in the heart of mortal man.  The beauty of its pelt added even more to its mystique and renowned.

It was not long after having purchased Banana Bank in 1973 with a herd count of some 1500 cattle that reports surfaced of a menace to the herd, that of jaguar who occasionally helped themselves to a weak or sick animal.  Banana Bank was surrounded by heavy jungle so that was not too surprising.  Loss of an animal now and then could be expected but more than once a true marauder, one that killed repeatedly, had to be hunted down.  There were a few jaguar hunters in the country.  Part of their equipment was a jaguar call.  They used a large hollow, dried gourd that had a piece of heavy twine knotted through the wide end passing through the gourd to the narrow end.  The twine was rubbed with resin and when the gourd was held under the left arm and with the right hand, the fingers were drawn along the twine, a low moaning sound was produced, exactly like a female jaguar in heat.

In 1981 sometime in the summer as independence was about to emerge, John and Carolyn were at a dinner party when someone mentioned that a transition was about to take place and the forestry department would pass from British to Belizean management and that the British Chief Forest Officer was about to leave his post and return to the UK.  The family had been caring for a baby jaguar that had been found up in the Melinda Forest Reserve.  Now they would be leaving and there was no place to put the baby jaguar.  Carolyn overheard the conversation and asked if it would be possible for Banana Bank to take the jaguar.  Someone said they would look into it and the matter was forgotten.  A month later, one day the Belizean Chief Forest Officer saw John along the road, stopped him and asked if we were still able to take the baby jaguar which by now was about three months old.  Thus Tika came into our lives.  She had been tenderly cared for from infancy and fully trusted humans never having been mistreated or abused. She lived to be 25 years and a few months old when she died.

A memorable occasion was the visit of Dr. Alan Rebinowitz who came to Banana Bank to see Tika and collect fecal samples to further his study of the jaguar. Dr Alan Rabinowitz was one of the world’s leading big cat experts. His extraordinary story started in childhood, where difficulties he faced communicating with the human world led him to seek out the company of animals who became his confidants. A regular visitor as a boy to the Bronx Zoo, he promised to a resident jaguar there to become a voice for big cats.  This became the foundation for a remarkable career.  He travelled the world working on conservation projects, with his work in Belize resulting in the world’s first jaguar sanctuary: The Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary.

Two years went by and we were planning to take down the large enclosure where Tika had lived but just never got around to it.  One day a guy called the lodge and said he had a baby jaguar and wondered if we would like to have it.  This was in 2011.  By that time there were many laws in place prohibiting wildlife in captivity.  There was the Belize Zoo who had never approved of Banana Bank keeping a jaguar.  Animal rights groups and individuals with strong opinions about any animal in confinement, caused us to be reluctant to take on another jaguar.  The guy who had the jaguar persisted until we went to see it. 

We drove about 15 miles toward the Guatemala border to the village of La Gracia.  We were moved to do something.  The cat was in a very small cage in a yard with dogs barking and kids poking sticks.  It was a bad situation.  We went to the forestry department to report the animal assuming it would go to the Belize Zoo.  The zoo could not take it as they had no available space.  The forestry department gave us permission to take her (it was a female). We gave her the name Tikatoo.  It was not an easy transition as she was full of fear and hate.  With patience, she has learned to trust us.