Under Protection: Jaguar Roaming Arizona Wilderness Is 1 of Only 3 Spotted in U.S. in Recent Years
Wildlife conservationists released new video footage on Thursday of a wild jaguar trekking through southern Arizona's Chiricahua Mountains.
The video, captured by the Center for Biological Diversity using a remote-sensor camera, offers a glimpse of the jaguar named “Sombra,” Spanish for "shadow," by students at Paulo Freire Freedom School in Tucson.
The jaguar is only the third seen in the U.S. since 2012, and the seventh in the past 20 years, the organization said. Rosette spot patterns on the cat also suggest it is the same one that was spotted seven months ago, in November, in the Dos Cabezas Mountains.
The sex of the jaguar remains unknown.
“The possibility that it may be a female gives us a lot of hope that jaguars might jump-start their recovery in a region they’ve called home for thousands of years,” conservation advocate Randy Serraglio said in a press release.
The video was captured earlier this summer, but the conservation group held off on releasing it to protect the jaguar's safety, according to spokesperson Russ McSpadden.
Other critters were also captured on the feed, including bears, deer and a mountain lion.
Conservationists believe the big cats are traveling north from Mexico due to population stressors in their habitat there and said erecting a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border will only contribute to their problems.
“Part of ensuring the survival and recovery of the northern jaguar population is stopping Trump’s horrendous border wall,” Serraglio said. “These cats must be able to move back and forth across the border as they travel long distances to find mates and establish new territories.”
Historically, jaguars lived throughout the Southwest, including on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and in Southern California mountain regions, the center said
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Wildlife conservationists released new video footage on Thursday of a wild jaguar trekking through southern Arizona's Chiricahua Mountains.
The video, captured by the Center for Biological Diversity using a remote-sensor camera, offers a glimpse of the jaguar named “Sombra,” Spanish for "shadow," by students at Paulo Freire Freedom School in Tucson.
The jaguar is only the third seen in the U.S. since 2012, and the seventh in the past 20 years, the organization said. Rosette spot patterns on the cat also suggest it is the same one that was spotted seven months ago, in November, in the Dos Cabezas Mountains.
The sex of the jaguar remains unknown.
“The possibility that it may be a female gives us a lot of hope that jaguars might jump-start their recovery in a region they’ve called home for thousands of years,” conservation advocate Randy Serraglio said in a press release.
The video was captured earlier this summer, but the conservation group held off on releasing it to protect the jaguar's safety, according to spokesperson Russ McSpadden.
Other critters were also captured on the feed, including bears, deer and a mountain lion.
Conservationists believe the big cats are traveling north from Mexico due to population stressors in their habitat there and said erecting a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border will only contribute to their problems.
“Part of ensuring the survival and recovery of the northern jaguar population is stopping Trump’s horrendous border wall,” Serraglio said. “These cats must be able to move back and forth across the border as they travel long distances to find mates and establish new territories.”
Historically, jaguars lived throughout the Southwest, including on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and in Southern California mountain regions, the center said
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