\u201cThat\u2019s very recent,\u201d said researcher Susan Malusa, director of the center. \u201cIt\u2019s extremely exciting. We are just shocked.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is the fifth different jaguar to be recorded in the U.S. since 2011 and the second new animal spotted since 2023.<\/p>\n
The nighttime images released so far show the large cat drinking from a water hole and turning to look over its shoulder, offering a clear view of its distinctive markings.<\/p>\n
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There\u2019s not enough detail in the pictures to determine the age or the sex of the animal, Malusa said, but the cat \u201clooks absolutely healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Experts used the cat’s distinctive pattern of spots to determine that this jaguar, caught on camera last month, was different than any other individual previously photographed in Arizona.<\/p>\n
University of Arizona Wild Cat Research and Conservation Center<\/p>\n
She said she could not release the specific area or mountain range where the jaguar was spotted. That information would have to come from the federal and state wildlife agencies from which the center gets its research permits to conduct scientific monitoring on public land, she said.<\/p>\n
Arizona Game and Fish Department<\/a> spokesman Mark Frieberg also declined to specify the jaguar\u2019s location, but he did say that agency experts have examined the new pictures and confirmed the cat\u2019s spots do not match any other individual on record.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a new one that hasn\u2019t been seen before,\u201d Frieberg said.<\/p>\n The surprising images were first reported Sunday night by a pair of volunteer researchers who were out in the field checking the cameras the center maintains in the area, Malusa said. \u201cOne of them has been with this project for 13 years. We have a very committed group.\u201d<\/p>\n After the photos came in, Malusa and others\u00a0\u2014 including some scientific collaborators in Mexico\u00a0\u2014 spent Monday studying the pattern of rosettes on the jaguar\u2019s coat and comparing it to the markings on other big cats previously photographed in Arizona.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like we were trying to convince ourselves we were wrong,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The center doesn\u2019t give nicknames to the animals it documents, so for now this new individual is known as Jaguar Number Five\u00a0\u2014 or Cinco if you prefer, Malusa said.<\/p>\n Researchers from the center will soon return to the area where the photos were captured to collect any droppings or fur they can find in hopes of learning more about the animal. Analyzing a jaguar\u2019s scat can tell you what it is eating, offer clues about its overall health and provide hormone readings that can be an indicator of stress, Malusa said.<\/p>\n They also plan to sample water and sediment from the area where the cat was drinking to scan for so-called \u201cenvironmental DNA<\/a>,\u201d basically genetic material that may have been shed by the jaguar or other animals drawn to the pool.<\/p>\n The new jaguar was caught on camera nine times and on three different days, most recently on Nov. 13, when the remote wildlife camera captured this image.\u00a0<\/p>\n University of Arizona Wild Cat Research and Conservation Center<\/p>\n Wild Cat Research and Conservation Center operates a network of about 100 wildlife cameras in more than a dozen mountain ranges in Southern Arizona, known as sky islands. With the help of more than 40 volunteer researchers, the center has now logged over 225 detections of the five jaguars recorded in the state over the past 15 years, along with more than 50 detections of Arizona\u2019s tiny population of endangered ocelots.<\/p>\n Over the summer, the center\u2019s cameras captured the last new jaguar recorded in Arizona<\/a>, an adult male cat first caught on film between May and December of 2023\u00a0\u2014 first in the Whetstone Mountains by a nonprofit conservation group<\/a> and then in the Huachuca Mountains by a private wildlife videographer<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n