Modern Weights and Measurements of Jaguars

[peter]

BALAM (AND DARK JAGUAR)

Excellent work. It shows serious work always results in something of value in the end. As a result of your efforts, this forum now offers good information about the life and size of jaguars in different regions. Today, those interested in jaguars can read for hours in the threads you and Dark Jaguar created. My advice is to be proud of what you achieved. And to continue no matter what. You now know for sure it's appreciated my those running this forum as well as jaguar biologists. And many others.  

As to the debates regarding the information both of you. I noticed you in particular seem a bit irritated every now and then. My advice is to accept criticism and animosity as part of the deal. The moment you start posting on a public forum, other members will respond. Some will appreciate your contributions, whereas others will try to dismiss them. You have to learn to handle criticism in the proper way, meaning you have to use it in a way that produces a result.  

At times criticism is a result of (hidden) preference, but this is not always the case. When well-spoken members with access to good information (and the ability to select what they need in a subtle way) doubt the info you posted (or your deductions), you're more or less forced to go over it again. More often than not, this will result in more reliable conclusions. 

If those involved in criticism add a bit of pepper, you can go for the pepper or decide for a different approach. My advice is to go for the last option. Will take some time, but you will profit in the end in some way. It can, for instance, result in a bit of insight in (the background, motives and goals) those opposing you.  

Example. As you're interested in big cats, you no doubt know I was involved in plenty of debates in which tigers and bears featured. Over the years, I noticed members interested in one species often compared to each other. As I knew a bit about captive animals, I was able to get to some conclusions. One of them was specialists (members interested in one species only), characterwise, often seem to compare to most individuals of the species they preferred. All trainers I interviewed agreed on that one, but all added individuality was as important, if not more so.  

I also learned responses loaded with pepper often more or less confirmed I was on the right track. If insult was added, I was sure. After a number of years. the result was a number of interesting threads. 

When we started Wildfact in 2014, I decided for a different approach. I read all recent peer-reviewed documents produced by those involved in the Siberian Tiger Project and posted extensively about them in the tiger thread. The conclusion was things didn't quite add up, meaning more research is needed. 

I also concluded some of the observations of biologists seemed to be incomplete, if not inaccurate. Example. I posted about a few incidents in which tigers, bears and wild boars featured. In all cases, I disagreed with the conclusions of those who had seen the animals involved themselves. I was proven right in all cases later. This doesn't mean the biologists involved in the STP were wrong (they know ten times more than all of us combined), but it did confirm getting to conclusions isn't always easy when circumstances are unclear and time is limited. 

At the moment, I'm reading everything I have on two Amur tigresses allegedly killed by bears about a decade ago. This was in the period some Amur tigers had been affected by a disease and others had been wounded trying to get out of Aldridge footsnares. The disease and the attempts to get out of the footsnares had serious consequences in a number of cases. In some time, I will start a debate in the tiger thread. I do not doubt my posts will attract (new) members who disagree. The aim of the debate is to get to sound conclusions on what really happened.  

This to say a debate can be productive if you have an open mind and a clear goal in mind. If the goal is good information, chances are a debate will produce a decent result sooner or later. This is the aim of those running the forum. I hope you and Dark Jaguar will continue to develop the jaguar threads. Thanks again on behalf of all interested in jaguars. Reply