soul

of blessed memory

Big Cat Conservationist Alan Rabinowitz Dies

TIMES OF ISRAEL

A

WIKIPEDIA

lan Rabinowitz, a prominent
conservationist who dedicated
his life to protecting jaguars and
other wild cats, died Aug. 5, 2018, after a
long battle with cancer.
A co-founder of Panthera, an orga-
nization dedicated to
helping the big cats,
Rabinowitz was at the
forefront of global efforts
to protect various spe-
cies.
Rabinowitz grew up in
New York City and had
a debilitating stutter as
a child. In an interview,
he recalled confiding to
the big cats at the Bronx
Zoo, telling National
Geographic that he was
always drawn to the cage
occupied by a silent jag-
uar.
“I would go to the bars,
wait until nobody was
around, and talk to the

Alan Rabinowitz

52

August 16 • 2018

jn

jaguar — tell it my hopes and dreams,
whether it was a bad day at school or
how stupid I felt people were because
they didn’t try to understand me,” he
said in 2014.
And as a child, he vowed that if he
ever learned to speak clearly, he would
become an advocate for the animals.
“I would never leave that enclosure
without promising the cats that if I ever
found my voice, I would try to be their
voice and help them,” he said.
It was only as a senior in college that
Rabinowitz overcame his speech imped-
iment. He then went on to become a
leading conservationist, working par-
ticularly to save the cats and his beloved
jaguar.
In 1981, he earned his doctoral degree,
and shortly afterwards went to Belize to
begin his research on wild jaguars. He
eventually convinced the government
there to create the world’s first jaguar
preserve.
“The conservation community has
lost a legend. Alan was a fearless and

outspoken champion for the conserva-
tion of our planet’s iconic wild cats
and wild places,” said Panthera CEO
Fred Launay. “As a lifelong voice for the
voiceless, he changed the fate of tigers,
jaguars and other at-risk species by
placing their protection on the agen-
das of world leaders from Asia to Latin
America for the very first time.”
In addition to becoming an advocate
for animals, he also served as a spokes-
person for the Stuttering Foundation.
He published more than 100 popular
and scientific articles and wrote seven
books on wildlife, including the chil-
dren’s book A Boy and a Jaguar.
In 2001, he was diagnosed with chron-
ic lymphatic leukemia, but continued
fighting for the animals. He remained as
CEO of Panthera until 2017. Just months
before his death, he brought together a
coalition of 14 South American coun-
tries to collaborate on jaguar protection
from Mexico to Argentina.
He is survived by his wife, Salisa, and
their children, Alexander and Alana. •