Trail cameras in southeastern Arizona captured images of a male jaguar in late November, marking the fifth jaguar documented in the state since 2011 and giving conservationists new hope that the endangered species is making a comeback. The big cat, nicknamed Cinco, was spotted by researchers at the University of Arizona’s Wild Cat Research and Conservation Center, which has been monitoring jaguar appearances and tracking their movements in the state for nearly 15 years. Susan Malusa, director of the center’s jaguar and ocelot project, said the sighting is very exciting because it shows that jaguars continue to come to Arizona because they’re finding what they need to survive. Researchers identified Cinco by comparing the distinct black patterns on his coat, called rosettes, which are unique like a fingerprint with no two jaguars having the same pattern, and to date they’ve logged 230 jaguar detections in the area.
In the early and mid 1900s, jaguars and ocelots faced serious threats from poachers and government programs that targeted predators, and even after jaguars were listed as endangered in 1997, they continued to lose habitat due to deforestation, drained wetlands, and border wall construction along the U.S. Mexico border. Although the core population of jaguars lives in Mexico, scientists believe drought and declining prey may be pushing them northward into Arizona, though conservationists warn that continued border wall construction could block important wildlife paths and threaten the jaguars’ ability to move and survive in the region. Jaguars that have wandered into Arizona are considered important signs of the species’ ability to adapt and bounce back from near extinction. The sighting of big cats like Cinco gives Malusa hope that the species is recovering and that we still have a chance to get it right and keep the paths open for these amazing animals to thrive.
