Jaguar and ocelot photographed in southern Arizona

Jaguar seen previously in different mountain range

December 2012. An adult male jaguar and an adult male ocelot have been photographed in two separate southern Arizona mountain ranges by automated wildlife monitoring cameras. The images were collected as part of the Jaguar Survey and Monitoring Project led by the University of Arizona. Both animals appear to be in good health.

Jaguar photographed in 2011 & 2012 in different locations
In late November 2012, the UA project team downloaded photos from wildlife cameras set up as part of the research project and found new pictures of a jaguar in the Santa Rita Mountains. A total of ten jaguar photos were taken by three UA cameras and one Arizona Game and Fish Department camera. The cat's unique spot pattern matched that of a male jaguar in the Whetstone Mountains photographed by a hunter in the fall of 2011, providing clear evidence that the big cats travel between southern Arizona's "sky island" mountain ranges.

A September 2012 jaguar "tail" photo was previously reported by the Arizona Game and Fish Department from a hunter's automated wildlife monitoring camera in the Santa Rita Mountains. None of the UA photos can be matched to this "tail" photo because, in the new photos, the tail is obscured or the opposite side of the jaguar was photographed. However, the jaguar is most likely the same individual.

Ocelot
In addition, a new ocelot photo was taken in the Huachuca Mountains west of Sierra Vista by one of the UA project cameras. Again, comparisons of the spot patterns revealed this to be the same male ocelot that has been reported by the Arizona Game and Fish Department and photographed in the Huachucas several times in 2011 and 2012. However, the UA photo was taken about 4 miles away from the previous photos, demonstrating that even the smaller cats move across the rugged Arizona landscape.

The purpose of the UA research project is to establish a non-invasive, hands-off system for detecting and monitoring jaguars and ocelots. The project is using motion-sensor-activated "trail" cameras placed in areas most likely to detect the spotted cats. Once fully operational, up to 240 paired cameras will be in place throughout the project area to capture images of both sides of detected animals.

Continued:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/jaguar-arizona012.html

Game and Fish investigating ocelot sighting - via Chad Arment

TUCSON - New pictures of an ocelot in the Huachuca Mountains are now being analyzed by the Arizona Game and Fish Department to determine if it's the same one seen in the area twice before.

Ocelots are small to medium-sized spotted cats with a long tail. They have been listed as endangered since 1982 under the federal Endangered Species Act. Since being listed, ocelots have only rarely been seen in Arizona. Only one other ocelot, an animal run over near Globe in April 2010, has been confirmed in Arizona since the mid-1960s.

A spokesperson for Game and Fish says if the pictures conclude it is the same ocelot, it will show the cat survived the Monument Fire and remains in the Huachucas.

Ocelots tend to be smaller in size in the more northerly portions of their habitat range than those individuals in the central or southern habitat areas. The upper body coloring is highly variable, ranging from grayish to cinnamon or tawny to reddish brown. Dark markings form chainlike streaks down the sides of the ocelot's body. They have a fairly long tail, as long as the body, and short rounded ears.

If anyone encounters a cat believed to be an ocelot, the Game and Fish Department requests that photos along with observation information be reported immediately to the department.

Continued:  http://www.kvoa.com/news/game-and-fish-investigating-ocelot-sighting/

Probable ocelot sighting in Arizona

March 2012. The Arizona Game and Fish Department announced a highly probable, but not verifiable, sighting of a rare ocelot in Arizona.

The sighting is documented in trail camera photos provided to the department by a third party and posted on the Internet site, www.coueswhitetail.com. Analysis indicates that the ocelot is the same animal observed in February 2011 by Game and Fish officers and photographed by a hunter's trail camera in May 2011 in the Huachuca Mountains. The new photos show the ocelot on what appears to be a deer kill. The trail camera is owned by a hunter who wishes to remain anonymous and has provided no additional details.

Ocelots are small to medium-sized spotted cats with a long tail. These cats have been listed as endangered since 1982 under the federal Endangered Species Act. Since being listed, ocelots have only rarely been seen in Arizona. Only one other ocelot, an animal run over near Globe in April 2010, has been confirmed in Arizona since the mid-1960s. One other ocelot was reportedly captured on film in November of 2009; however, in a similar situation, the department has not been given the specific location of the photo and it has not been possible to fully verify the animal's location based on that photo. The record is therefore not included in our state's HDMS.

While the department agrees that both sets of photos from these sightings are of ocelots, without location and additional information, such as tracks, scat or hair analysis, recovered from the scene, they remain classified as "probable but not verifiable." It is the department's hope that additional information from either or both of these sightings would be brought forward to facilitate analysis and classification so that they could be included as an official record in the HDMS.

Ocelots tend to be smaller in size in the more northerly portions of their habitat range than those individuals in the central or southern habitat areas. The upper body colouring is highly variable, ranging from greyish to cinnamon or tawny to reddish brown. Dark markings form chainlike streaks down the sides of the ocelot's body. They have a fairly long tail, as long as the body, and short rounded ears. 

Ocelot rangeThe present range for ocelots is in the eastern and western lowlands of Mexico, from southern Mexico through Central America and in the lowland areas of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Brazil. On the fringes of their range, they occupy a very limited region in both the United States (a remnant population exists in southern Texas) and Argentina. Other animals such as bobcats and young mountain lions are sometimes misidentified as ocelots, which is why verification is so very important.

Ocelots are protected by the Endangered Species Act and should be left alone. If anyone encounters a cat believed to be an ocelot, the Game and Fish Department requests that photos along with observation information be reported immediately to the department. A phone number for reporting sightings is 1-800-352-0700. 

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/ocelot-arizona.html

5th ocelot sighting confirmed (via Chad Arment)

The fifth confirmed Arizona ocelot sighting in two years was reported Friday by the chairman of the Arizona Game and Fish Commission.

Chairman Robert R. Woodhouse said at a commission meeting that the state Game and Fish Department had confirmed a new ocelot sighting report in southeastern Arizona on Friday. The ocelot is listed as an endangered species in the United States.

A Game and Fish officer investigating a report from another source found tracks and received several images that helped the department determine this was a verified ocelot report. More specific details about the cat and where it was found were not available late Friday.

Two other ocelot sightings occurred in February and May of this year in the Huachuca Mountains, while a dead ocelot was found near Globe in April 2010, Game and Fish officials have said.
In November 2009, remote cameras placed by the conservation group Sky Island Alliance photographed an ocelot in Cochise County. Until that sighting, no confirmed ocelot sightings had occurred in Arizona since 1964.


Read more: http://azstarnet.com/news/science/environment/th-ocelot-sighting-confirmed/article_bd63c811-1745-50f5-9786-98afc850c5a1.html#ixzz1ffC8QERU



Eds' note:  However, here is update on that story:

Sighting was African cat, not ocelot

TUCSON, AZ (KOLD) - After further review, the Arizona Game and Fish Department said the reported rare sighting of an ocelot was another breed of cat called a serval.

A serval is a popular African cat in the pet trade, the fish and game department said.

The Department uses a three-tiered classification system to rank reported sightings from the public based on the level of physical evidence available, the department said.

The presence of physical evidence such as scat, hair, tracks and/or photos and video can lead to a Class I designation of "verifiable" or "highly probable."

Read more here ...

Rare ocelot sighted in Southern Arizona

Wednesday, February 9, 2011 at 10:05 AM

An ocelot, one of the rarest big cats on this side of the world, wandered near a home in Southern Arizona's Huachuca Mountains Tuesday and sought temporary refuge in a tree to avoid a barking dog.

The cat was unhurt, the Arizona Game and Fish Department reported, and finally climbed down from the tree after a state wildlife officer had it photographed and recorded the sighting. (The photo  above is the actual ocelot,  taken by photographer  Tony Battiste..)

Ocelots are small- to medium-sized cats, with dark spots and a long, curling tail that helps them climb trees. They have been protected by the federal Endangered Species Act since 1982, but they live mainly in the lowlands of Mexico and Central and South America.

Tuesday's sighting is significant because ocelots are almost never seen in Arizona. An ocelot was killed by a car near Globe last April, but questions arose about whether it was a cat kept captive by someone in the area.

The Sky Island Alliance reported photographing an ocelot in 2009, but wildlife officials could not verify the details of the cat in the picture.

A man was working in his yard in the Huachuca Mountains on Tuesday when he saw his dog barking at what appeared to be a big cat, game and fish officials said. The cat climbed a tree and, at that point, the man got a closer look. He called the Game and Fish department.

The game and fish officer inspected the cat as closely as he could and confirmed it was an ocelot. The officer saw no injuries and no evidence that the dog and ocelot had interacted, the agency said. The officer took pictures, collected scat samples and then cleared the area until the ocelot could climb down and leave.

State and federal wildlife officials will study the pictures and the location to determine whether the ocelot lives in the wild or escaped captivity.

http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/ShaunMcKinnon/118106

Rare Ocelot Found Dead, Endangered Species Not Seen In AZ Since 1960's

(submitted by Chad Arment via Kevin Stewart)

Arizona Reporter - Arizona News - 23/04

The Arizona Game and Fish Department yesterday collected a dead, intact carcass of a cat resembling an ocelot, a rare small to medium-sized cat that is listed as a federally endangered species.

The animal reportedly was accidentally hit and killed by a motorist on Sunday, April 18 on Highway 60 between Superior and Globe.

In cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), the Department is in the process of shipping the carcass to the Service’s national forensics laboratory located in Ashland, Oregon, where it will undergo testing to determine if the cat is actually an ocelot of wild origin.

“Currently, we have no reason to suspect that this is anything other than a wild, naturally occurring ocelot and genetic analysis should help with verification,” said Eric Gardner, the Department nongame and endangered species program lead. “Although not legal to possess in Arizona under most circumstances, ocelots are actually fairly common in the pet trade and genetic testing may help us determine its origin or if this was a captive-raised animal.”

Coincidently, The Sky Island Alliance, a Tucson-based non-governmental organization, last week announced that a volunteer citizen naturalist had retrieved an image of an ocelot from one of the Alliance’s remote cameras placed in Cochise County. The image was dated November 7, 2009. Sky Island Alliance has not yet publicly released the photo.

There have been only a handful of verified ocelot sightings backed up by specimens or photos in Arizona. The species has not been documented in Arizona since 1964 and historical records are very rare. Investigations of the occasional sightings reported since 1964 have often determined that a bobcat had been misidentified as an ocelot, despite the significant difference in tail length between the two species.

Ocelots are small to medium-sized spotted cats with a long tail. They tend to be smaller in the more northerly parts of their range than in the central or southern areas of occurrence. Their upper body coloring is highly variable ranging from grayish to cinnamon, or tawny to reddish brown, with dark markings forming chainlike streaks (generally forming black-bordered elongated spots that are more nearly stripes than spots) down the sides. Their present range is in the eastern and western lowlands of Mexico, from southern Mexico through Central America, and in the lowland areas of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil. On the fringes of their range, they occupy a very limited region in both the United States (a remnant population exists in southern Texas) and Argentina.

The ocelot was listed in the U.S. as a federally endangered species in 1982.

http://www.azreporter.com/news/index.php?itemid=983


Posted: Apr 29, 2010 11:38 PM
Updated: May 07, 2010 1:44 PM
Posted by Dan Marries
TUCSON, AZ (KOLD) - A snapshot of a rare animal is stirring excitement in wildlife circles. The photograph, dated November 7, 2009, was captured with a remote sensing camera located only 40 miles north of the international border. Today, Sky Island Alliance released the original ocelot photo:

http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=12402245