America’s Only Known Wild Jaguar Makes Surprise Appearance [+Video]

According to a report released Wednesday, America’s only known wild jaguar makes surprise appearance several miles from Tucson, Arizona. A video of the wild cat, whose nickname is ‘El Jefe’ or ‘The Boss’ in Spanish, was seen lurking in the mountains by sensor cameras.

The video was released last week by two nonprofit conservationist groups. Chris Bugbee of the Conservation CATalyst explained that jaguars are extremely elusive. But in the U.S., it is all the more of a challenge to capture the only known living specimen on camera.

The conservationist groups made the announcement as part of an ongoing program to track and protect endangered species in Arizona’s mountain ranges. Jaguars have been considered an endangered species since 1972.

Biologists explained that they were quite a common sight in mountain ranges from California to Louisiana in the 19th Century. But because of hunting and farming, their habitat dwindled and so did their numbers.

Biologists said that the jaguar is the fifth to be photographed in Arizona in the last two decades.

El Jefe must have traveled more than 130 miles from the southern border to reach its current location, biologists said. Since the animals do not normally live in packs, it is not a rare sight to see a solitary animal.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services reported that they know the animal by the name of Santa Rita, because that is the place where jaguar population is denser. The jaguar was nicknamed El Jefe by school children involved in the Center for Biological Diversity’s conservation projects last fall.

The elusive cat was first spotted five years ago when it was cornered by a hunter and his dogs. Officials said that the hunter took some pictures of the animal and left the area to take a look at it from a safe distance. Later, the man submitted the pictures to with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Center.

But since then, other photographs of the animal emerged. Biologists explained that they know it is the same creature because the patterns on its fur are identical.

Researcher said that El Jefe is not the only big feline in Arizona’s mountain ranges. There are several mountain lions, ocelots and bobcats somewhere out there. All four wild cats are currently on the endangered species list. But it is quite uncommon to see so many species of wild cats roaming the same area.

Image Source: Wikimedia