And a rather large one.
I know that cheetahs are shy, generally non-aggressive animals when they are well fed, so it’s not like doing a photoshoot with a hungry jaguar, but I still wouldn’t show one my neck the way she is doing in the photo above. I don’t want to work with any animal that can move ten times faster than me. Frankly, I don’t want to work with any animal faster than a slug, possibly excepting a golden retriever.
Interestingly, jaguars have absolutely no prey instinct toward humans, because humans arrived so late in their evolutionary development, unlike the case with lions, leopards, and tigers.
You’re thinking of wild jaguars, which rarely interact with humans at all. Jags in captivity or containment (like for the pictorials shown here) are extremely unpredictable and dangerous, even when born and raised in captivity. They are more or less impossible to train. You rarely see them used in circus-type acts or for pictorials like this one.
I do remember an exception. Years ago, there was a viral video of a young rescue jaguar who became a pet/mascot for an army unit in Brazil. In the video, he was unleashed, swimming with the soldiers. I couldn’t find the video, but I remember it.
I have to admit I would not have joined them.
Cats and a nude Genevieve Morton. My two favorite things.