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Due to hunting and habitat loss, the once-common jaguar has become a rare sight in North America.

However, in exceedingly rare and unrelated events, 2 were sighted this month.

The Arizona Game and Fish Department caught and collared a wild jaguar in Arizona for the first time, officials said Thursday. While a handful of the big cats have been photographed by automatic cameras in recent years, the satellite tracking collar will now help biologists learn more about this animal’s range.

Meanwhile, a jaguar was spotted in central Mexico for the first time in a century. Scientists photographed the cat with an automatic camera set alongside a trail thought to be frequented by the spotted felines.

Jaguars (Panthera onca) once ranged from southern South America to the southern United States. By the late 1900s, none were thought to exist north of Mexico, but two independent sightings in 1996 confirmed jaguars still reached as far north as Arizona and New Mexico. Remote cameras have also photographed jaguars in the Amazon.

The species has been protected outside of the United States under the Endangered Species Act since 1973. That protection was extended to jaguars in the United States in 1997, the year after their presence here was confirmed.

The Arizona cat

The male cat in Arizona was captured southwest of Tucson during a study aimed at monitoring habitat connectivity for mountain lions and black bears. The healthy beast weighed in at 118 pounds with a thick and solid build.

Satellite tracking showed the cat traveled more than 3 miles from the capture site in the first day after its release, officials said.

“While we didn’t set out to collar a jaguar as part of the mountain lion and bear research project, we took advantage of an important opportunity,” said Terry Johnson, endangered species coordinator for the Arizona Game and Fish Department. “More than 10 years ago, Game and Fish attempted to collar a jaguar with no success. Since then, we’ve established handling protocols in case we inadvertently captured a jaguar in the course of one of our other wildlife management activities.”

Biologists are trying to determine if the collared jaguar is Macho B, a male cat that has been photographed by trail cameras periodically over the past 13 years.

In 1997, a team was established in Arizona and New Mexico to protect and conserve the species. The Jaguar Conservation Team (JCT) began working with Mexico two years later, recognizing that the presence of jaguars in the United States depends on the conservation of the species in Mexico.

Interestingly, the project set up to do all this is funded by Arizona Lottery ticket sales.

The Mexico cat

No jaguars had been spotted in central Mexico since the start of the 20th century.

Scientists trying to find footprints, excrement or any other signs of the jaguars had in recent years interviewed residents, none of whom had ever seen one. Nonetheless, the researchers now report having obtained three photographs of a male jaguar and ten excrement samples that have been attributed to the jaguar, said Octavio Monroy-Vilchis of Autonomous University of the State of Mexico.

In a statement, researchers explained there are 15 areas in Mexico in which it is unknown whether jaguars still exist, whether their populations are stable, and if their habitat is adequate. These areas are important for scientific studies, because they could include crucial zones for the felines’ long-term survival.

“The photographs provide information about new recording sites, and allow us to deduce that the area where the animal was observed may be a corridor connecting jaguar populations,” Monroy-Vilchis said.

Jaguars are the only cats in North America that roar. They’re considered the largest cats in the Western Hemisphere. Adults commonly weigh up to 211 pounds (96 kg), though 300-pounders have been reported. In the northern range they typically weigh between 80-120 pounds, however.

Females breed year-round and have litters of one to four cubs that stay with their mother for nearly two years.

Jaguars can live in several types of forest, grassland and dry habitat. They prey on a variety of animals, including fish, birds and reptiles. The largest contiguous area of habitat now remaining for jaguars centers in the Amazon Basin.

Maplewood Bengals, who are located in Angola, Newyork, have a brown spotted / rosetted male bengal kitten available for sale. He will come with a written guarantee, shots, wormed, Vet Certificate, and 24 -7 support. See breeder listing for further details, photos and contact info.

An experiment in Algeria has produced the first camera-trap photographs of the critically endangered Northwest African, or Saharan cheetah.

The photographs were captured as part of a project run by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and Office du Parc National de l’Ahaggar (OPNA).

The animal is known with certainty to range in six countries: Algeria, Togo, Niger, Mali, Benin, and Burkina Faso, but the total population may be fewer than 250 mature individuals.

The pictures come from a systematic camera-trap survey across the central Sahara.

It managed to identify four different Saharan cheetahs using spot patterns unique to each animal.

“The Saharan cheetah is critically endangered, yet virtually nothing is known about the population, so this new evidence, and the ongoing research work, is hugely significant,” said ZSL’s Dr Sarah Durant.

Farid Belbachir, who is running the field survey, added: “This is an incredibly rare and elusive subspecies of cheetah and current population estimates, which stand at less than 250 mature individuals, are based on guesswork.

“This study is helping us to turn a corner in our understanding, providing us with information about population numbers, movement and ecology.”

We’d like to welcome Willowbay Bengals as new advertisers on the website this month. Willowbay are located in Harris, Minnesota and currently have two brown spotted bengal kittens available for sale. They are TICA registered and are sired by Champion WillowBay Mario. Kittens are up to date on vaccinations and are now ready to go to forever homes. Pedigree info, photos and contact details can be found on the main website

Karen-Jane Dudley from the Isle of Wight has launched an appeal in a bid to to raise money to enable the tracking of 5 rare white lions which are set to be released into the wild. She is trying to raise £1,000 for the Global White Lions Trust in South Africa.

The trust wants to fit the 2 adults and 3 cubs with radio collars before they are released in 2 months.

White lions are a rare mutation of lion found in Timbavati, South Africa, where the charity will be releasing them.

According to African folklore, magical white lions are born every 100 years to bring joy to those who witness them.

According to the trust, there are only about 300 white lions remaining in the world.

It has purchased its own land within the white lions’ ancestral homelands of Timbavati since private reserves there still hunt lions as trophies.

White lions are thought to have become extinct in the wild in 1994 and the Global White Lions Trust began reintroducing them into the wild in 2006.

Ms Dudley said: “With the mortality rate for lions in the wild at 80% – only 20% survive to adulthood – the lives of this royal pride could depend on this radio tracking equipment.

“The money raised… will be vital to allow us to know where they are and keep them as safe as possible. The team will sleep a lot easier knowing the young pride can be monitored day and night thanks to this equipment.”

Ms Dudley is also holding a photographic exhibition of her work with the lions to raise money for the Global White Lions Trust.

It will will be on at Dimbola Lodge Museum in Freshwater Bay, on the Isle of Wight, until 1 March.

AN adult tiger that is believed to have killed three people has been captured on Indonesia’s Sumatra island.

The two-metre long endangered tiger is believed to have killed three men over the last two weeks in Jambi province.

It was trapped on Tuesday using a goat as bait, provincial conservation agency official Didi Wuryanto said.

“I’m very grateful that we were able to save the tiger. We were afraid that angry residents would shoot it,” Mr Wuryanto said.

“We suspect that the tiger was looking for a lost cub when it killed the three men,” he said, adding an infrared camera had been installed to detect any other tigers.

Human-animal conflicts are a rising problem as human settlements encroach on natural habitats in Indonesia, an archipelago nation with some of the world’s largest remaining tropical forests.

In January, two women were trampled to death by a pair of elephants in Aceh province on the northern tip of Sumatra after the animals entered an illegally cleared field from nearby jungle.

There are less than 400 Sumatran tigers left in the wild, according to environmental group WWF.

Authorities in Thailand have seized the slaughtered carcasses of 2 tigers and a panther and charged the man transporting them with possessing endangered wildlife.

The two Bengali tigers and a black panther were discovered when a truck was stopped for a routine search late on Monday in the southern province of Pattani.

Lieutenant Colonel Theewa Daorueng, of Pattani’s police force, said the animals had been shot, cut in half and frozen for the journey.

It was not clear where the big cats had come from, he said.

“The driver was charged with illegal possession of carcasses of endangered wildlife and faces four years imprisonment,” he said.

“He has denied the charges and said he was not aware that there were carcasses in his pick-up truck.”

The arrested man told police he was hired to drive from Sungai Kolok town on the Malaysian border to Hat Yai city, the Thai south’s commercial hub.

Thailand, with its highly developed infrastructure and location, is a transportation centre for the thriving illicit animal trade in Southeast Asia, animal rights groups say.

Tiger hunting is illegal worldwide, but tiger numbers in Asia are declining because of loss of prey and habitat due to uncontrolled development, and poaching for the black market trade in tiger skins and bones.

The wines and medicines made from the animals are traditionally believed to have healing or aphrodisiac properties.

Asian Bamboo Bengals, who are located in Ramona, California, have a brown spotted bengal spay available for rehoming. She was born in Aug 2006, is TICA registered, tested HCM normal and spayed.  Further details, pedigree, photos and contact info can be found on the breeder listing over on the main site.

Village Cattery, who are based in Schaumburg, Illinois, currently have 2 brown spotted female bengal kittens available. “These kittens will be sold as high quality pets or as breeders. They have nearly straight profiles and wild-looking heads. They have amazing contrast and a lot of glitter. Please contact us by email or by phone if you are interested in a kitten from this litter or if you would like to inquire about an upcoming litter. We currently have two pregnant queens–Miley and Beatrice. Miley’s litter is due on approximately February 7th and Beatrice’s litter is due on approximately March 11th”

We’d like to welcome Plush Bengals as new advertisers on the website. Plush are located in Brighton, Colorado and currently have brown spotted and snow spotted bengal kittens available. Kittens come with a written health guarantee, and will be registered with TICA. See breeder listing on the main website for further details, pedigree info and contact details.