Latest news with #SusanMalusa
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Elusive jaguar seen on trail camera in southern Arizona is 'good news,' experts say
One of Arizona's most elusive sights showed up in a series of trail camera images collected by volunteer scientists in a Sky Islands mountain range near the U.S.-Mexico border: a jaguar roaming a remote landscape. The image is the latest of five jaguar sightings documented this summer by the University of Arizona's Wild Cat Research and Conservation Center and their team of citizen scientists. Researchers said all of the images are of the same male jaguar, which was last seen in the same area over a year and a half ago. 'We're really excited that it's on the landscape again, because it speaks volumes about the biodiversity of the ecosystem,' said Susan Malusa, a biogeographer and co-coordinator for the researcher center. 'It's good news to see that an ecosystem is healthy for tiny little herbivores up to these apex predators.' The University of Arizona's jaguar and ocelot monitoring program has been operating for almost 15 years, collecting over 200 detections (which include photo, video and DNA samples) of four jaguars documented in the region for scientific research. The program also contributes to the research of dozens of other species, including protected ocelots, gray wolves and golden eagles. The camera traps are almost entirely maintained by citizen scientists, who are volunteers trained by the center. 'We really do want people to recognize the community-driven science here,' said Malusa, who has managed the project since 2011. 'This is a wonderful group of people, and their commitment has made this happen.' Sky Islands: Where the border wall ends, wildlife survives. Advocates fear losses if the gaps close Border wall, mining challenge jaguar recovery in Arizona Jaguars are the largest cats in the Western Hemisphere, and are best characterized by their distinctive spots, known as rosettes, which form a unique pattern specific to each jaguar and help researchers identify individual jaguars from photos. There have been eight jaguars photographed in the United States since 1996. The cats were listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act in 1997. The long-term datasets collected by the university's monitoring project help researchers understand the species' habitat range and contribute to the conservation and recovery of the binational population. Primary threats to jaguars in the United States include habitat loss and fragmentation, which have been highlighted in recent years by controversial mining projects and border wall construction in southern Arizona. For more stories about Arizona wildlife: Sign up for AZ Climate, The Republic's weekly environment newsletter. In 2014, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated over 750,000 acres of critical habitat for the species along the border in southern Arizona and New Mexico, but that area was reduced by about 65,000 acres in 2024 after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, hearing a lawsuit filed by mining company Rosemont Copper, a subsidiary of the Canadian Hudbay Minerals, found the federal government didn't prove the acreage was essential to the species' survival. In July, conservation groups sued the Trump administration over plans to construct a border wall across the San Rafael Valley, one of the last stretches of untouched borderlands where jaguars and ocelots have been documented crossing into the United States from Mexico. John Leos covers environmental issues for The Arizona Republic and azcentral. Send tips or questions to Environmental coverage on and in The Arizona Republic is supported by a grant from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust. Follow The Republic environmental reporting team at and @azcenvironment on Facebook and Instagram. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Male jaguar shows up on trail cameras in southern Arizona Solve the daily Crossword
Washington Post
2 days ago
- Science
- Washington Post
A rare jaguar roams Arizona. Border wall expansion imperils its future.
A rare sight was captured by a night-vision trail camera in July: a grown jaguar, roaming through southern Arizona. Researchers at the University of Arizona's Wild Cat Research and Conservation Center call him Jaguar Number Four, a big cat that roamed across the United States-Mexico border through the San Rafael wildlife corridor. As of July 4, the same cat has been detected five times by cameras placed south of Tucson, said Susan Malusa, director of the Wild Cat Center.
E&E News
5 days ago
- Science
- E&E News
Scientists spot jaguar as border wall, mining projects advance
Researchers say they have once again seen an elusive jaguar in southern Arizona, as environmentalists contend a federal border wall and copper mining threaten the animal's historical habitat. A team of scientists and volunteers at the University of Arizona's Wild Cat Research and Conservation Center have recorded four sightings of one male jaguar so far this summer, the center's first sightings in nearly two years, co-coordinator Susan Malusa told POLITICO's E&E News. 'It's a really powerful reminder that jaguars are still moving through corridors that connect these borderlands,' Malusa said. Advertisement In July, environmental groups sued the Trump administration over its use of environmental waivers to fast-track border wall construction in the San Rafael Valley, a key wildlife corridor for jaguars and other species.
