Jaguar in Southern Arizona
AGCHAWK
2/18/07 10:07pm
I found this on the Boone and Crockett site.
I knew that they used to roam the southern Arizona, Texas, and New Mexico regions long before my time and also have heard sporadic reports of sightings now and again but this is awesome! What a treat that would have been to be on that particular hunt!
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This incredible photo of a cornered jaguar was taken recently in southern Arizona. The hunter must have been very surprised to see what the dogs brought in when he got to the end of this hunt. The dogs and hunter most assuredly beat a hasty retreat once this photo was taken for proof and posterity.
Jaguar used to be a regular part of B&C's Records Program until their limited numbers and range demanded they be afforded special protection. Jaguar listings are still a part of B&C's records books, but now represent more of a piece of history than current hunting opportunity.
I knew that they used to roam the southern Arizona, Texas, and New Mexico regions long before my time and also have heard sporadic reports of sightings now and again but this is awesome! What a treat that would have been to be on that particular hunt!
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This incredible photo of a cornered jaguar was taken recently in southern Arizona. The hunter must have been very surprised to see what the dogs brought in when he got to the end of this hunt. The dogs and hunter most assuredly beat a hasty retreat once this photo was taken for proof and posterity.
Jaguar used to be a regular part of B&C's Records Program until their limited numbers and range demanded they be afforded special protection. Jaguar listings are still a part of B&C's records books, but now represent more of a piece of history than current hunting opportunity.
13,736
i dont think so :-k :-k
Bigbuck92/Nevadahunter, the Jaguar's home range used to extend from South America, Central America, Mexico, through to the desert Southwest of the United States (even as far east as Louisiana). Due to encrouchment, over-hunting, etc thier range has been reduced significantly. There is still a significant population in various portions of Central American and parts of South America with pockets through Mexico.
There have been reports of sightings through Southern Arizona and New Mexico over the years but this is the first "wild" pic I've seen, with the exception of older pics.
Bigbuck92, the Jaguar is native to North, Central, and South America. The Leopord and Cheetah are African game. The Jaguar is the third largest cat in the world behind the Siberian Tiger and Lion.
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Arizona rancher Warner Glenn has now had two once-in-a-lifetime encounters with jaguars, the latest in February during a mountain lion-hunting trip in the Bootheel of New Mexico. “I thought it was an old tom lion,” says Glenn. “But when I got closer, I saw it was a jaguar—it was an absolutely beautiful cat.”
After spotting it, Glenn walked back to his mule and reached into his saddlebag. “This is a really remote corner of the country, where a rancher might easily say, ‘I don’t want to have anything to do with an endangered species anywhere near my land,’” says Jonathan Adams, a Nature Conservancy biologist. “But Warner Glenn didn’t reach for his gun; he reached for his camera.” And he did the same in 1996, when he took the first pictures ever of a live jaguar in the United States.
The jaguar—the largest cat native to the Americas—has been making its way north from a core population of a couple hundred cats 140 miles to the south, according to biologists. “Historically, jaguars ranged as far north as the Grand Canyon,” says Peter Warren, a Conservancy grassland manager in Arizona. “The return of these big cats is an indicator that conservation work near the border is paying off.”
Glenn is part of the Malpai Borderlands Group, a team of ranchers that works with scientists, conservationists and public agencies to protect its lands from encroaching development by maintaining a “working wilderness” in the rugged and biologically diverse lands along the Arizona and New Mexico borders with Mexico. The Conservancy has partnered with the group since its beginning in 1994, assisting with more than 75,000 acres of conservation easements and helping to apply prescribed burns to about 150,000 acres.
Like most people living in the hardscrabble border region, Glenn needs to supplement his work as a rancher, and he does so by guiding hunting trips. He first hunted mountain lions on his ranch with his father more than 60 years ago to protect the livestock. “I know it’s difficult for some people to stomach,” says Warren. “But hunting a few animals is fairly benign when we’re talking about significant benefits to an entire ecosystem.” Recent in-creases in mountain lion populations have led to declines in bighorn sheep and other Southwestern species, he says.
“These ranchers live on land that is very difficult to manage, and the Malpai group is working to manage their land in a way that is responsible and sustainable,” says Nathan Sayre, a University of California geographer and author of a recent book on the borderlands. “The jaguar’s return is a symbol of that success.”
We'll enjoy the crow together although I'd rather have some venison jerky!
Most were taken in the Southeast corner of the state, but two of those taken in the 1960s were taken pretty far North in the state, Big Lake and the Ft. Apache Indian Reservation.
Interestingly, the state record is 18 5/16, while the state record Mt. Lion is only 15 9/16. They are obviously quite a bit larger than a cougar!
Marvin