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 / Modified jun 28, 2018 11:51 a.m.

Jaguar Seen in Arizona Last Year has Been Killed in Mexico

Spots on a pelt match those of a jaguar photographed in the Huachuca Mountains.
by Associated Press

Jaguar 12-16 A photo of a Jaguar in the Huachuca Mountains taken on Dec. 1, 2016
Arizona Game and Fish Department

Arizona Game and Fish officials say a rare jaguar seen in Arizona last year has been killed in Mexico.

They say the Northern Jaguar Project asked the department for help in confirming the identity of the animal.

Biologists compared photos of a jaguar that visited the Huachuca Mountains in 2016 and 2017 to the photo of the pelt and determined it was the same animal.

jaguar pelt Government officials received this picture of a jaguar pelt, and biologists say its spots correspond to those on a jaguar seen in pictures taken by a trail camera in Arizona.
Arizona Game and Fish

The photo was independently analyzed by six Game and Fish biologists to see if the pelt's spot patterns match photographs of a jaguar last seen in Arizona in May 2017.

Authorities say no female jaguar has been seen in the U.S. since the 1960s.

They say Arizona may now be too populous to provide good jaguar habitat.

MORE: Animals, Arizona, Border, Cochise County, Environment, Government, Mexico, News, Science, Tucson, U.S., Wildlife
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