As Trail of the Jaguar’s protagonist mentions, the Sonoran Desert of southern Arizona and northern Mexico belies the traditional idea of a “lifeless desert.” In fact there are more flora and fauna species here than on the pine-clad summits of the 8-9,000-foot mountains around Tucson, which are 20 degrees cooler and receive three or four times the rainfall. It’s as if evolution took it as a challenge to populate the desert with animals and plants that can survive and thrive there. Yet the life is not all reptiles and coyotes; there is surprising delicacy. After good winter rains the desert will be carpeted by golden poppies and purple penstemon, sprouted from seeds that can lie dormant for years. Even the cactus flowers come in luminescent violets and creamy whites.
Nevertheless, it remains a harsh environment, especially for humans. And the Arizona/Mexico border remains a contentious issue. The massive wall, which was completed across southwestern Arizona, divides opinion in two as harshly as it divided what had been a single ecosystem into two, blocking off passage for many large mammals that formerly were able to follow isolated rainstorms to find water and new forage. Time will tell what the effects will be on the critically endangered Sonoran pronghorn—and also on illegal immigration and the drug trade.
All these elements—wildlife, immigration, the drug trade, endangered species—figure into the plot of Trail of the Jaguar.
Trail of the Jaguar by Jonathan Hanson
Biologist and wildlife photographer Clayton Porter witnesses what appears to be a routine drug-smuggling flight across the Arizona-Mexico border. Instead, he uncovers a sophisticated operation involving a secret lodge high in the Sierra Madre, canned hunts for endangered jaguars, a ring of opioid-dealing doctors in the U.S., and a string of cartel victims partially consumed by a large predator. After he unwittingly throws a wrench into the works, Porter becomes a target of revenge, and resorts to skills from his military service to save himself and those close to him.
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He has since written for a score of outdoor and adventure magazines including Outside, National Geographic Adventure, Nature Conservancy, and Global Adventure, and has authored a dozen books on subjects including natural history, sea kayaking, wildlife tracking, and expedition travel.
Jonathan’s exploration experience encompasses land- and sea-scapes on six continents, from the Atacama Desert to the Beaufort Sea, from the Rift Valley to the Australian Outback, and modes of transportation from sea kayaks to sailboats to bicycles to Land Cruisers.
He has traveled among and worked with cultures as diverse as the Seri Indians and the Himba, the Inuit and the Maasai. Jonathan has taught tracking, natural history writing, four-wheel-driving techniques, and other subjects for many conservation and government organizations.
He is an elected fellow of the Explorers Club and the Royal Geographical Society, and a charter member of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, and lives in Southern Arizona with his wife of 37 years, Roseann Beggy Hanson.
You can follow Jonathan’s Overland Tech and Travel blog and order signed books at ExploringOverland.com.
