NEX- No Extinction- Jaguars!

 Our summer break went by way too fast, and even though we didn't go many places, we did have an extra special highlight right in the middle of our break!  We went and saw the jaguars.  I actually wrote and article about our experience and sent it to our community liaison officers for the embassy, so they could share the information with the rest of the embassy community.  So, to make my post easier- I am going to copy and paste the article into my blog:

Our family had a great time getting up close and personal with the rescued jaguars at NEX, No Extinction.  The family who runs the non-profit organization started Nex just over 20 years ago without government help.  We were able to meet their oldest jaguar, who is 22 years old, and has cataracts.  Jaguars usually only live 12 - 15 years. Now Nex has close to 15 cats including black jaguars and pumas, and we were able to meet them all. They also have a handful of beautiful rescued macaws. 

The English speaking tour, given by Angelica Verdan, who is a friend of the family who owns NEX, began with a lovely breakfast.  Then we were able to see the cats and learn of their stories - why they were rescued and why they can’t go back into the wild.  There are so many amazing rescue stories.  One that stands out to me is that one of the pumas was found on top of a pile of cocaine.  Another is that one of the jaguars was rescued from the fire in the Pantanal when he was a cub. He was raised with dogs, but when he got too big, his rescuer called NEX to take him in. The jaguars all had their own personalities.  When one of them was given a ball, he played and played with it. Another younger jaguar, only about a year old, played tug-a-war with the kids.  Guess who won?.. The Jaguar! 

After meeting the cats, those who wanted to, went on a hike to the waterfall where we could swim and take pictures.  The water was cold, but the experience was great!  A delicious Brazilian lunch greeted us when we arrived back at the farm.  After lunch we had the opportunity to see the pumas and jaguars get fed.  It was amazing how high the pumas could jump for their food, and how aggressive the jaguars got around feeding time.  Don’t worry, there is a fence, so the jaguars couldn’t actually “eat us.”

I deleted the last paragraph of the article for the blog post because it was just information for the next English tour- not needed for the blog post! ha ha One thing I didn't mention in the article, is that the big cats, especially the pumas, prey on small children.  They, the pumas/mountain lions, were literally hunting Trexton!  Good thing there was a fence. lol The other thing, not mentioned in the article above, is about my favorite jaguar.  He is the old, blind one, and when he was fed he put on a show for us.  Someone from the tour group hid is food in the water.  Mari- I think his name is- found the food quickly, and then walked around the perimeter of the fence showing it off to all of us. 

I don't have too much more to add after my article, however, I do have pictures!  The pictures at the top were taken by someone in our tour group and shared with us.  The pictures that aren't so amazing our by me, but no matter what- they all show the beauty of these big wild cats!