I had no idea that any jaguars lived in the U.S., but there appears to be at least one.
The species, Panthera onca, is the largest cat in the New World, and the third largest in the world after lions and tigers. Its former range extended from the southern U.S. through Central America to southeastern South America, but has been severely reduced by habitat loss (it prefers dense forest) and slaughter by ranchers and farmers. Wikipedia reports that there may be a few individuals left in the U.S., but its present range map shows no dark orange in that country:
The last jaguar spotted in the U.S. was in 2006, and the construction of a barrier fence between Mexico and the U.S. will further reduce what small population there is in our country, for the cats must ultimately come in from the south.
But, now a jaguar has been videotaped in Arizona. From the Guardian via Matthew Cobb, we have this information, and if you clock on the screenshot below, you’ll go to a rare 40-second clip of El Jefe, the American Jaguar!
Footage of the only known jaguar living wild in the US is captured on remote sensor cameras. The video, filmed by Conservation CATalyst and the Center for Biological Diversity in the Santa Rita Mountains, Arizona, provides a glimpse into the secretive life of the big cat, who has recently been named ‘El Jefe’ [“The Boss”] by local students.
Here’s what the cat looks like (there are several subspecies); this photo, with cubs, was taken in the wild—in Colombia:
Lagniappe: A cat stealing a neighbor’s plush tiger to play with it. Click on screenshot to go to video:
h/t: Timothy
Beautiful!
I knew that they were to be found in Arizona & that this fence was a terrible idea for wildlife, eg pronghorns
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/01/23/pronghorns-in-peril/1860331/
I suppose they are too fast for jaguar to hunt.
I hope he finds a lady friend!
That housecat’s name isn’t Calvin, is it?
Give it time. Homo will win.
i) I read this verbiage all of the time nearly everywhere for many, many felidae species, particularly massive – bodied ones, and wonder: why are the babes called ‘cubs’ and not, instead, termed ‘kits’ or ‘kittens’, please ?
ii) re lagniappe: Is that snatching of its new – found ‘friend’ … … a felinae ?
Blue
i) Rather unsatisfying answer here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2ns2ey/eli5_why_is_it_that_baby_cats_are_called_cubs/
ii) Good one! 😀
On past form, aren’t big cats wild in the US likely to be escaped or released ‘housepets’? It would barely be remarkable for jaguars to turn up in a Florida swamp wearing collars.
There are known to be some gun embracing right wing lunatics in the far reaches of the Arizona outback. Let’s hope a pejorative meeting between jaguar and manly-man does not happen.
Wow! Who would have thought?
Wow indeed! That is the coolest thing I’ve seen in a long time. Why can’t we have more of those?
This jaguar has been photographed remotely via wildlife cameras several times in the last few years. It’s the release of video that is new. He is the only known jaguar in AZ since the death of “Macho B” in 2009.
Local public support for jaguar protection has increased in recent years even as support for conservation in general (always very low in AZ) continues to dwindle.
Regarding escaped exotic cats: It seems likely that this jaguar is wild, since he’s lived here for years. Macho B had also been photographed many times over several years, and his home mountain range was closer to Mexico and in an area where the border was (at that time) marked only by an intermittent barbed wire fence.
Camera traps photographed an ocelot in the Santa Ritas a couple of years ago, and a local lion hunter treed and photographed an ocelot in the Huachuca Mts. around the same time. From clues in the photos, and the fact that we are a LONG way from any natural ocelot range in Mexico, I am guessing that these cats were “liberated” exotics.
I’d read several years ago that a few jaguars were known to cross from Mexico into Texas. First I’ve read about any jaguars in Arizona. Did the historic ranges of jaguars and pronghorns ever overlap? I though the usual range of pronghorns was much further north than jaguars would have gone even before Homo sapiens mostly wiped them out in what is now the U.S. Aside from wolves the historic predator of pronghorns were American cheetahs, which went extinct, along with many other large North American mammals, about 10,000 years ago. Seems the N.A. cheetahs were more closely related to cougars than to African or Eurasian cheetahs.
That last one is a cat burglar!
Someone had to say it.
Re: Lagniappe
Too fun! Does anyone else wish it went longer? I am curious if it turns to the rabbit-kicking hunt-like activity, or…
Well, the amorous kind. I have a cat who, um, particularly likes a furry blanket. I even Googled ‘humpy toy’ once.
Yep…
What’s the jaguar’s name? Martha?