The rainforest jungle is famed for its diversity of exotic animals. How did the ancient Maya really feel about these animals?

Did they think of them simply as a resource to be hunted and eaten? Were some of them treated as pets? Were some of them hunted simply as trophies to be displayed with pride? Or did the Maya consider these animals to be part of their spiritual world -- in some cases alternate souls of the people themselves? I have spent the last few years gathering data that I will incorporate into an interactive CDROM encyclopedia that can be used by anyone interested in the Maya peoples, in the animals of the tropical rainforest, or even in the many ways that people interact with the animals of the world around them. The encyclopedia includes biogeographic and biological information on the behaviour, habitats, and characteristics of the animals themselves, and anthropological information on the ancient and modern use of these animals as resource, companion, and symbol.