Ocelot in AZ?!

[writelots]

April 16, 2010. Tucson, ARIZ. – Remote cameras captured the image of an ocelot, a rare tropical cat, in Cochise County , Arizona . Sky Island Alliance, a Tucson-based regional conservation organization, recently photographed the cat while participating in the Witness for Wildlife program, which is supported by the Freedom to Roam Coalition and Patagonia , the outdoor clothing company.

Sky Island Alliance sets remote cameras to unobtrusively observe wildlife and assess wildlife corridors in Arizona’s Sky Island region. Last week, volunteer citizen naturalists participating in the Witness for Wildlife program retrieved images from one of the remote cameras in Cochise County. The image of the ocelot was dated November 7, 2009.

Taken by a remote camera, this remarkable photograph is the first verifiable record of this elusive wild feline alive in Arizona. Although a small number of ocelots live in south Texas, ocelots have never before been recorded alive in Arizona. Additionally, this record from Arizona places ocelots over 200 miles north in latitude from where they are found in Texas.

Let's hope he gets better treatment than Macho B...

[JimmyLyding]

Or that poor lynx that was transported from Canada to Colorado only to go all the way back to Canada to end up in a trap

[PaleoRob]

Awesome!

[azdesertfather]

Here's the story from the Arizona Daily Star:

Elusive ocelot is spotted in remote area of S. Ariz.

A rare tropical cat has been photographed by a remote camera in Southern Arizona.

Volunteers with the Witness for Wildlife program last week retrieved images of an ocelot taken by cameras in Cochise County, according to a press release from the Sky Island Alliance, a local conservation organization that set up the camera.

The image of the cat was dated Nov. 7, 2009.

The photograph is the first verifiable record of the elusive feline being alive in Arizona, according to the press release.

"It shows that Southern Arizona has a high-quality habitat. It's very diverse," said Jessica Lamberton, a Sky Island Alliance biologist.

Previous records of the cat in Arizona came from dead specimens, Lamberton said.

The organization does not plan to capture the animal, she said.

The animals have tan-brown fur and are darkly spotted with distinguishing parallel black stripes on the forehead, neck and shoulder.

They have long tails and agile bodies, usually weighing about 35 pounds.

The ocelot was listed in the United States as a federally endangered species in 1982.

The cats have been documented in northern Mexico just below the Arizona border for the last three years, Lamberton said.

A small number of ocelots also are known to live in South Texas.

[big_load]

I'm overwhelmed. There should be a big prize for the first HAZ member photo of an ocelot or jaguar in the wild, like dinner at the Best Mexican Restaurant in Globe (all 40 of them).

[azbackpackr]

I looked for the photo, but could only find this one, taken by the same Sky Island Alliance in Northern Mexico. I am not sure why I can't find the Arizona one:

[azdesertfather]

I looked for it too, it wasn't in the Sierra Vista or Tucson papers

[big_load]

It was in the Sierra Vista paper, but it's already off the front page.

[writelots]

I was told that the photo they got from their field camera was blurry and only an expert could tell that it was actually an ocelot. So they posted the Mexico picture to let people who've never been to local zoos know what an ocelot looks like...

[Jeffshadows]

I saw what could have been an ocelot in the San Pedro river south of Benson late one afternoon many, many years ago. He was up in a tree and darted off as we passed by so I didn't great a great look but he had the correct coloring and was roughly the right size. I always wondered...

[oceanwithin]

very cool... but imagine encountering one of those while hiking!

[chumley]

Well at least this one wasn't actually killed by a Game and Fish employee

Cat killed by Arizona car may be rare ocelot

Apr. 24, 2010 11:47 AM
Associated Press

TUCSON - An animal resembling a rare ocelot has been killed after being hit by a car on a highway between Superior and Globe.

An ocelot is a small- to mediuim-sized cat listed as a federally endangered species.

The Arizona Game and Fish Department collected the dead, intact carcass of the cat after it was accidentally hit last weekend on U.S. 60 by a driver.

Its remains will be sent to an U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service forensics laboratory in Oregon for testing.

The discovery comes about a week after volunteers from the Witness for Wildlife program retrieved a November photograph from a remote camera of an ocelot in Cochise County.

[big_load]

Well at least this one wasn't actually killed by a Game and Fish employee

I read the quote before your comment and was about to say the same thing. Poor critter.

[JimmyLyding]

They need to send it to a forensics lab in order to determine if it was an ocelot? Do AZ Game & Fish employees have working eyeballs?

[azbackpackr]

OK, great, but even if it was an ocelot doesn't mean it got there naturally. Ocelots are kept as pets, but they don't make very good pets, so it is not unreasonable to ask if it is an escaped or released pet. It is possible a veterinarian could tell the difference, too.

I hope it is the real deal, though. How awesome if those cats were re-establishing in AZ!

[azdesertfather]

Nice little video about the Ocelot in the Southwest
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AtwPh0iKW0

[chumley]

AZGFD reports a sighting in the Huachucas on Feb 8. Nice photo on their website.

http://azgfd.net/artman/publish/NewsMed ... zona.shtml

[chumley]

Here's the photo. High-res.
photo credit Tony Battiste, Portraits in Nature.

[azbackpackr]

Hah! You beat me to it! I get the AZGFD newsletter, too, and just saw that. Pretty cool, huh? It will be interesting if they can verify it is a naturally occurring one, or a released pet. Not sure how they will make that determination.

[te_wa]

Not sure how they will make that determination.

try to "pet" it.. you'll have your answer