Tail seen in photo was Ariz. jaguar's, 9 of 10 experts say

The mystery of the spotted cat is no more - it was, indeed, a jaguar that was seen in Southern Arizona last month, state game officials said Friday. After consulting with 10 outside experts and conducting its own analysis, the Game and Fish Department reached a consensus: The photo the department released last week is of a jaguar's tail and a small portion of its hindquarter. Because of the limited portion of the animal shown in the photo, taken by a hunter, Game and Fish had been trying to determine if it was of a jaguar or an ocelot. "Analysis of the spot pattern on its tail as well as the animal's size when compared to the surrounding vegetation and to other animals led us to believe the photo showed a jaguar," Game and Fish officials said in a news release. Nine of the outside experts said it was a jaguar while the 10th was undecided, said Jim Paxon, a Game and Fish spokesman. Only five jaguars have been photographed in the United States since 1996. All but one of those were seen in Arizona, with one seen in New Mexico. Tucson large cat biologist Sergio Avila, one of the 10 experts consulted on the mystery tail, said the jaguars are letting people know by their very presence what good jaguar habitat is and where they want to live. He works for the Tucson conservation group Sky Island Alliance. Southern Arizona's high mountain ranges that rise from the desert floor are known as Sky Islands. "What this shows is that these animals continue to use the Sky Islands and continue to be present in our region," Avila said...more

And right during the comment period on the critical habitat proposed by USFWS...isn't that amazing?

Noah Greenwald writing at the Huntington Post, says:

The image, which was confirmed as a jaguar on Friday by state wildlife officials, also adds a new sense of urgency for protecting the Southwest's few remaining wild deserts and mountains considered prime habitat for jaguars...

Exactly.

Greenwald and the enviros aren't satisfied with the 838,000 acres in the USFWS proposal:

That's an area larger than the state of Rhode Island, but still leaves out some of the best possible habitat farther north in New Mexico's Gila National Forest and Arizona's Mogollon Rim.

Get ready New Mexico.  I wonder what the NM Game & Fish Dept's comments will say?