The ruins of the Maya city of Chichen Itza are located in eastern Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.
Recently the site was taken over by protesting teachers , temporarily. A few days later, on the night of June 15th, jaguars appeared on a game camera near Chichen Itza.
The jaguar, Panthera onca, is the biggest cat in the Western Hemisphere. The jaguar was important in the Maya culture and they called the big cat balam.
In the Chichen Itza pyramid called the Castillo there is a red jaguar statue called the jaguar throne. This chamber is no longer open to the public but the last time I visited, my wife and I were able to go inside the chamber.
On the night of June 15th, a game camera located near Chichen Itza filmed two real jaguars looking at the camera. They seemed curious about it. After all, a jaguar is a kind of cat !
Here are photographs of the two jaguars, taken 3 seconds apart, on a split screen:
Click here to see video of the jaguars.
It’s a good thing the jaguars and the striking teachers didn’t get together!