Just one more reason why the 'border fence' is such a bad idea: wildlife migrates and big cats follow the browsers, without regard for national borders. Since drug runners, and the two-legged coyotes who transport people for exorbitant fees, just work around, under*, or over such minor inconveniences as fences anyway, the fence project is silly at best,and most likely, just another of the bush malAdministration's $$ funnel to private business.
*
Way back in the 80s, a tunnel big enough for pickup trucks was discovered, allowing unseen movement of drugs and people well into Douglas, AZ . Several smaller tunnels have been found since. Fences don't work. We see the traffickers are just building ramps or mowing down fence in the California areas where the fence has gone up.http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/281183The capture and collaring of a jaguar for satellite tracking will give authorities the best information they've ever had on how the rare cat behaves in this country, a state official said Friday.
Two days after the first capture of a jaguar in the United States, Arizona Game and Fish officials said the animal had traveled three or four miles in the first three hours after its release from a snare trap that day.
On Friday afternoon, data from the collar showed the cat was still roughly in the same area, after probably spending most of the day under an overhang of a rocky slope, said Terry Johnson, endangered-species coordinator for the state Game and Fish Department.
The jaguar, age 15 to 16, has been dubbed "Macho B" by scientists for some time. It appears to be the oldest known jaguar documented in the United States, Johnson said. It was first photographed in Arizona in 1996 by Jack L. Childs, now project coordinator of the non-profit Jaguar Border Detection Project, based in Amado. It has been photographed repeatedly since then. Data from the tracking collar will provide specifics about where the jaguar goes, rests and forages, including any crossings of the Mexican border, Johnson said.
Am glad to know this old chap is still alive and well not too many miles south of where my sister lives.
Been following tales of the jaguars in Arizona for many years. Evidence points to their historical range extending to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon but they have long been thought to be extinct in the US. Then a few ranchers and avid hikers started reporting tracks, scat, and sightings. Of course, the Fish & Wildlife guys wrote them off as mistaken puma sightings, and/or observations made under poor conditions (or tequila) and dismissed them.
Back in the 90s a very well thought of tracker and predator-control private contractor who really knows the areas decided to investigate some of the sightings. He was particularly familiar with the very rugged, and little traversed, Chiricahua Mountains in southeastern part of AZ (think Cochise Stronghold terrain). Ranchers in the areas adjacent to the park there were some of the first to report sightings and stock loss to a big cat that was not puma. The well seasoned tracker brought back conclusive proof that a Jag in AZ isn't always a car. Scat samples, footprint castings, hair, photos. His credibility as a wildlife observer was something the wildlife officials could not dismiss.
Thus began the documentation that the jags were back. There were some sightings in the area south and slightly west of Tucson, close to the border. It is rather pretty rolling land and there are 'tanks' where there is year round water, some rocky peaks and narrow rocky canyons with plenty of overhang shelters for big cats. The terrain of that particular 'sky island' is much kinder to hikers than the extremely rugged Chiricahuas. I took a dear friend and hike buddy up there one day for a day hike and hopes we might get lucky enough to spot the big spotted cat.
Was using brother-in-law's little truck for the drive into that lovely area. It was the day the breaks went out. We had excitement not related to wildlife. Trip down from the higher elevation was a bit harrowing, but not NEARLY as bad as the leg of the journey after I dropped my pal off in Green Valley, and headed home, through a lot of Tucson traffic. I would rather have surprised the cat that day!
Anyway, tis a fine thing to learn that big cat is still alive out there, and that his kin are still making a living back into some of their native range from back before the gringos came in such number that the cats were hunted to local extinction.
If you have never had the pleasure of seeing a big, wild cat living life as it should, my condolences. It is an enriching experience to know we are not always the top of the food chain. The mountain lion, the panther, the jaguar.... they are magnificent and it is a gift of a lifetime to ever catch a glimpse.
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