Watch: Unknown jaguar appears on Arizona trail camera

Biologists say the cat doesn’t match two other jaguars in the area

Arizona Game and Fish Department biologists say a jaguar that appeared on a wildlife enthusiast’s trail camera is one previously unknown in the state.

“Arizona Game and Fish wildlife biologists reviewed the imagery of a jaguar in the Huachuca Mountains and confirmed that it is a new individual not previously photographed in the state,” the agency reported on X (formerly Twitter).

The jaguar (Panthera onca) that appeared on hobbyist videographer Jason Miller’s trail camera has different spotting than two other cats known to appear in the area, biologists determined. Both those jaguars are female. Biologists couldn’t determine this cat’s sex.

Jaguars are largely extinct in the U.S. This is only the eighth jaguar photographed in the country since 1996, the Arizona Republic reports.

“We’re seeing these animals more frequently in the borderlands,” said TWS member Ganesh Marin, a University of Arizona doctoral candidate, told the Arizona Republic. “We’re witnessing a natural comeback of a species that was eradicated.”

Read more from the Arizona Republic and watch the video from AZGFD at the link below:

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Header Image: A previously unseen jaguar appears on a trail camera in southern Arizona. Credit: Jason Miller via AZGFD