Wildlife Advocates Encouraged by Southern Arizona Jaguar Sighting

TUCSON, Ariz. – Wildlife advocates say the pre-Thanksgiving sighting of an adult male jaguar in southern Arizona is an encouraging sign of the recovery of a species that once roamed as far north as the Grand Canyon. State officials used photos and videos taken by a hunter to confirm the sighting.

Craig Miller, Southwest representative with Defenders of Wildlife, says more sightings are inevitable because of jaguar recovery programs taking place in Mexico.

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Listen to this story featuring Defenders’ Craig Miller on Public News Service radio.

“There are encouraging conservation programs taking place in Sonora, just south of the border, to help these jaguars recover and to help ranchers and landowners learn how to live with them. Those populations are increasing.”

Federal managers in the U.S. are also developing a recovery plan. The last known jaguar spotting in the United States was nearly three years ago. A 15-year-old jaguar known as “Macho-B” was captured, fitted with a radio collar and then recaptured and euthanized 12 days later, when it was determined he suffered from kidney failure. The controversial actions led to state and federal investigations.

Miller says there is no reason jaguars can’t recover and thrive in the southwestern United States.

“There are abundant habitats in Arizona and New Mexico to host jaguars. What’s necessary is for our land managers to preserve the landscape in a way that allows jaguars and other forms of wildlife to move freely between core habitat areas.”

There is no reason jaguars can’t recover and thrive in the southwestern United States. – Craig Miller

Some in the conservation community have called for capturing the newly spotted jaguar and fitting it with a radio collar to track its movements. Miller says there are less invasive, lower-risk techniques to study the jaguar and its habitat.

“Jaguars in their northern range have suffered a 75-percent mortality related to capture and handling. I don’t believe trying to capture this animal and fit it with a radio collar would be a prudent approach. In some cases, research can get in the way of conservation.”

Miller says hunting, trapping and predator control are the main reasons jaguars disappeared from Arizona. But times have changed and Miller says he is now hopeful, due to better laws and a growing public interest in restoring jaguars to the border region.

Doug Ramsey, Public News Service – AZ