Watch: Rare ocelot still roaming Arizona mountains

An ocelot first spotted in Arizona’a Huachuca Mountains more than a decade ago continues to roam the landscape. A trail camera set out by resident Jason Miller showed the cat moving among trees in a canyon in July. The last sighting of the ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), identifiable by a “bootheel” shape on one of its spots, was last October.

Tucson schoolchildren nicknamed the cat “Lil’ Jefe” in 2019, a reference to a jaguar (Panthera onca) nicknamed “El Jefe”—Spanish for “The Boss”—that had been previously seen in the state. It is one of five ocelots—all males—confirmed in Arizona since 2009.

Miller previously captured the same ocelot on camera two years earlier. He posted the latest videos on his YouTube channel, Jason Miller Outdoors.

Read more from the Arizona Republic, and watch the video below.