A photograph of a jaguar taken by a Fort Huachuca trail camera in the Huachuca Mountains might show a jaguar not previously seen in Arizona, state and federal wildlife officials said today.
“Preliminary indications are that the cat is a male jaguar and, potentially, an individual not previously seen in Arizona,” Benjamin Tuggle, regional director for the Southwest Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said in a news release. “We are working with the Arizona Game and Fish Department to determine if this sighting represents a new individual jaguar.”
“While this is exciting news, we are examining photographic evidence to determine if we’re seeing a new cat here, or if this is an animal that has been seen in Arizona before,” said Jim DeVos, assistant director of the Arizona department’s Wildlife Management Division. “We look forward to partnering with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and thoroughly vetting the evidence.”
The date stamped on the photo is Dec. 1.
The new image might not be the Santa Rita Mountains jaguar nicknamed "El Jefe" who has been spotted in film and video before.
El Jefe was was first photographed in 2011 in the Whetstone Mountains south of the community of Dragoon and then is believed to have moved over to the Santa Ritas southeast of Tucson, officials have said.
Two remote camera sites in the Santa Ritas have been the only places in the U.S. and Canada where four wild cat species including jaguars and ocelots have been photographed.
In 2009 the capture and euthanization of a 15-year-old jaguar known as Macho B sparked massive controversy and a prolonged criminal investigation.
Like El Jefe today, Macho B at the time was the nation's only known wild jaguar. This new photo could change that status for El Jefe.
