Green Options

Officials from the Arizona Game and Fish Department captured a wild, live jaguar in an area southwest of Tucson.

Images of a jaguar were captured by a remote automatic camera set up in Central Mexico’s Sierra Nanchititla Natural Reserve.

The three photographs, plus some fecal samples, are the only evidence of the animal’s existence in the area for the last century. The big cat was photographed at just over 6,000 feet.

Lead researcher and study author, Octavio Monroy Vilchis remarked upon the importance of the discovery: “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.” Mr. Monroy Vilchis is a research fellow at the Universidad Autonomoa del Estado de Mexico.

As new camera technology becomes cheaper and better, rare animals in places like Peru’s rainforests may soon be photographed and documented more thanks to the efforts of wildlife biologists. These kinds of photographs are important because they can provide crucial evidence of where species of animals like jaguars roam, giving scientists, park managers, and conservation advocates the facts they need to argue for greater protection of specific habitats. It also gives conservation professionals knowledge of where to concentrate their efforts and research, and can likewise increase public awareness of interesting and endangered animal species.

In a paper published in the latest edition of Animal Conservation, researcher Mathias W. Tobler and several of his colleagues describe a study they conducted in an area of the rainforest in southeastern Peru. By experimenting with hidden “camera traps,” these scientists set out to inventory elusive, rarely seen large and medium-sized mammals that live in the Peru’s rainforests. What they discovered is both exciting and interesting.