Arizona Has a Spotty New Visitor
This photo, made with a remote camera and provided by the University of Arizona Wild Cat Research and Conservation Center, shows a spotted jaguar in southern Arizona, Nov. 2025. (University of Arizona Wild Cat Research and Conservation Center via AP)
The spots gave it away. Like a human fingerprint, the rosette pattern on each jaguar is unique, allowing researchers to confirm a new animal after reviewing images captured by a remote camera in southern Arizona. The University of Arizona Wild Cat Research and Conservation Center reports this is the fifth jaguar observed in the area over the past 15 years after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. The camera captured the animal visiting a watering hole in November.
“We’re very excited. It signifies this edge population of jaguars continues to come here because they’re finding what they need,” said Susan Malusa, director of the center’s jaguar and ocelot project, in an interview with the AP.
The research team is now collecting scat samples to conduct genetic analysis, determine the sex of the new jaguar, and learn more about its diet, which can range from skunks and javelina to small deer. Malusa emphasized that jaguars serve as an indicator species, meaning their presence signals a healthy ecosystem. However, she noted that climate change and border barriers threaten migratory corridors. Rising temperatures and severe drought make it increasingly urgent to maintain connectivity between jaguars and their historic range in Arizona.
Over 99% of jaguars live in Central and South America, and the few males spotted in the U.S. are believed to have dispersed from populations in Mexico, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The agency lists habitat loss, fragmentation, and illegal hunting as the primary threats to the endangered species. In 2024, federal officials revised the jaguar habitat designation in response to a legal challenge, reducing the protected area to roughly 1,000 square miles across Pima, Santa Cruz, and Cochise counties.
Malusa said recent detections support the pattern that jaguars appear in the region every few years, often moving in response to water availability. When food and water are abundant, movement slows. Jaguar #5, she noted, repeatedly returned to the area over a 10-day span, an unusual behavior for such typically elusive animals. “That’s the message—that this species is recovering,” she said.
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