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"El Jefe" YOUR Arizona Jaguar

Conservation CATalyst and the Center for Biological Diversity released new video 02/03/2016 of the only known wild jaguar currently in the United States.Captured on remote sensor cameras in the Santa Rita Mountains just outside of Tucson, the dramatic footage provides a glimpse of the secretive life of one of nature’s most majestic and charismatic creatures. This is the first-ever publicly released video of the jaguar, recently named 'El Jefe' by Tucson students, and it comes at a critical point in this cat’s conservation.

More on YOUR Jaguar below. This individual has been photographed repeatedly, since 2013, right here in Arizona.
All wildlife in ARIZONA are the property of the people in trust with the state, hence these photographs are of YOUR Jaguar "El Jefe".

This photo released by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shows a rare male Jaguar filmed by a remote camera west of the proposed Rosemont Mine site in the mountains southeast of Tucson. The photographs come as federal wildlife officials consider designating more than 1,300 square miles in New Mexico and Arizona as critical habitat for the jaguar. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service / AP)
The images were provided to the Star this week by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.Federally financed remote cameras photographed the jaguar west of the proposed Rosemont Mine site in the mountains southeast of Tucson.
It is the only jaguar known to live in the United States since the 15-year-old cat known as Macho B died, after being treed and shot with an anesthetic dart by the Arizona Game and Fish Department in Arizona in, March 2009.
The photographs come as federal wildlife officials consider designating more than 1,300 square miles in New Mexico and Arizona as critical habitat for the jaguar. The proposed habitat would include parts of Pima, Santa Cruz and Cochise counties in Arizona, and New Mexico's Hidalgo County'
. While this habitat isn't as good for jaguars as what exists in Mexico, said Jean Calhoun, an assistant field supervisor in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Tucson office, "It's the best (jaguar) habitat we have."
Tim Snow, an Arizona Game and Fish Department nongame specialist, said the area where the photos were shot has prey for the jaguar like deer and javelina.
But the new photos don't change Ubfortunately, the Arizona Game and Fish department is in opposition to a jaguar critical habitat."That solitary male jaguar is no reason for critical habitat. We don't have any breeding pairs," said department spokesman Jim Paxon. "If that was critical habitat, we would still be doing the same thing that we are doing today. We are not harassing that jaguar or modifying normal activities there that are lawful today."
Michael Robinson of the environmental advocacy group Center for Biological Diversity, however, said a habitat is needed in the American Southwest. "It's hard to see how an area with possibly the only jaguar living in the wild in the United States ... how that habitat would not be essential to recovery here," he said.
We at Sky Island Museum believe that the United States must provide leadership to the world by protecting and promoting one of our largest and most endangered animals.
We Urge you to write to your legislators NOW.
Information from: Arizona Daily Star, http://www.azstarnet.com And http://www.huffingtonpost.com

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My name is Rich Ayrey, please e-mail me at rich@skyislandmuseum.org.
Unless otherwise noted, all photographs by Rich Ayrey, do not reproduce without the written permission of the photographer.Jaguar photos provided by the AzG&F Dept.
This Flagstaff Arizona SKY ISLAND MUSEUM © Rich Ayrey 2013-2016.
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SKY ISLAND MUSEUM page created 04/04/2014.
SKY ISLAND MUSEUM page last updated 02/04/2016.