New video released by the Center for Biological Diversity shows the only known wild jaguar in the United States.
According to the CBD, the jaguar was captured on a remote sensor camera in the Santa Rite Mountains just outside of Tucson. It is the first ever publicly released video of the animal.
The camera is part of an ongoing project to monitor Arizona mountain ranges for endangered ocelot and jaguar.
"Studying these elusive cats anywhere is extremely difficult, but following the only known individual in the U.S. is especially challenging,” Chris Bugbee, a biologist with Conservation CATalyst said. “We use our specially trained scat detection dog and spent three years tracking in rugged mountains, collecting data and refining camera sites; these videos represent the peak of our efforts.”
The jaguar, known as El Jefe, has been photographed many times by remote sensor cameras over the past few years. He is the only verified jaguar in the U.S. since Macho B was euthanized in March 2009.
According to the CBD, a mine company is working to develop an open-pit copper mine in the middle of El Jefe's territory, and would destroy thousands of acres of federally protected jaguar habitat.
