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I saw a jaguar after submitting Mt Wrightson in 2020. First I thought it was a black bear then saw its massive tail sticking straight up. Scared the hell out of me.
I lived near Patagonia for 3 years. Was out metal detecting near Harshaw Canyon with a retired mining engineer and we saw a jaguar. Had a tail as thick as a mooring rope. This was in 2014.
I saw an animal like this in California, in Big Sur, large black cat with a mooring room tail. Definitely not a mountain lion. Scary as hell. I asked a biologist at USGS about it and he said it was probably an escaped exotic.
I was in southern Arizona around 2005 - 2006 and witnessed a large black cat ( which I believe to be a jaguar ) drinking out of the river/stream while I was hiking.
Edit: east of the Whetstone mountains area.
This one looked back over its shoulder and noticed me, and then moved on down the river.
I will never forget it! It could have been a melanistic cougar or mountain lion or something I suppose but hard to say 100% accurately.
I've read a few theories on why that might be:
\- Mountain Lions (Cougars) are more opportunists, and will go after just about anything they think they can kill.
\- There are some thoughts that Jaguars are the smarter big cat, and for whatever reason they are more methodical in their hunting and therefore less likely to attack a human because they know we fight back?
\- Jaguars prefer larger prey, and there are less of them, so they have less opportunity to "size us up" as a potential food source.
\- Mountain Lions have more territorial pressure and because they are widely distributed around human populations, they often feel that humans might make a good food source because there are just so many of us around.
It's pretty amazing how few Jaguar attacks on human there have been compared to Mountain Lions.
There's a classic ~~PBS~~ NMSU doc about sky island ecosystems and the Chiricahuas, and it talked about that Jaguar and WG! I think they had pictures of his dogs cornering the cat before it got away. I'll see if I can find it, but it was obviously older
[FOUND IT - timestamped](https://youtu.be/Cp77EO4SMnA?t=1899)
Really impressive photos considering the situation and technology he likely had
Whoa. "In the last 150 years, there have been only 54 confirmed sightings..."
That's still an average of one sighting around every three years! I would have assumed far fewer.
That's awesome thank u!
I saw another article when I was googling more on this that apparently there's been three sightings of three different ones since 2015 or 2016, I believe.
They aren't exactly, they are to the northern boarder of Mexico but have been pushed up due to activity etc. For a few years now, not sure how far back but I want to say 10+ years now. Still very rare sighting as big cats have large areas of territory and tend to roam them and the boundaries of them....
This has always been part of southwest history before AZ border, Mexico and us occupation. Native communities have oral stories, songs, history related to jaguars or big cats. Now added walls and barriers that separated wildlife migrations and food supplies.
Over the years the wall has stopped its migration but back in the day the us has a decent population of jaguars coming up from Mexico., population loss due to habitat destruction has made there numbers dwindle for quite some time. There has been “talks” about reintroducing them to the us with human intervention.
We've had jags at the southern end of Pima County for years, one has been spotted near Patagonia, in Madera and down by nogalis. They think it's just one roaming the northern boarder of thier natural boundaries because of the activities by the border etc. Super cool!
Thanks for contributing to r/Arizona! * [Our sub rules are here](https://www.reddit.com/r/arizona/wiki/rules/), but the most important of which is to be nice to each other * Check out some [recent posts](https://www.reddit.com/r/arizona/top/?t=week) and leave some comments * [Join our Discord chat server](https://discord.com/invite/yWVuTG57Zh) if you'd like to keep in touch with other people in Arizona. Plus it's a great, chill place in general. Note that it is NOT a dating server and takes unwanted messaging very seriously Remember this subreddit covers all of Arizona, so please include where in the state you're posting about if it is relevant. For more local topics check out r/Phoenix, r/Tucson, and r/Flagstaff. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/arizona) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I saw a jaguar after submitting Mt Wrightson in 2020. First I thought it was a black bear then saw its massive tail sticking straight up. Scared the hell out of me.
I lived near Patagonia for 3 years. Was out metal detecting near Harshaw Canyon with a retired mining engineer and we saw a jaguar. Had a tail as thick as a mooring rope. This was in 2014.
I saw an animal like this in California, in Big Sur, large black cat with a mooring room tail. Definitely not a mountain lion. Scary as hell. I asked a biologist at USGS about it and he said it was probably an escaped exotic.
I was in southern Arizona around 2005 - 2006 and witnessed a large black cat ( which I believe to be a jaguar ) drinking out of the river/stream while I was hiking. Edit: east of the Whetstone mountains area.
Jaguars are beautiful animals. They are also docile towards humans unless provoked, moreso than mountain lions.
This one looked back over its shoulder and noticed me, and then moved on down the river. I will never forget it! It could have been a melanistic cougar or mountain lion or something I suppose but hard to say 100% accurately.
I've read a few theories on why that might be: \- Mountain Lions (Cougars) are more opportunists, and will go after just about anything they think they can kill. \- There are some thoughts that Jaguars are the smarter big cat, and for whatever reason they are more methodical in their hunting and therefore less likely to attack a human because they know we fight back? \- Jaguars prefer larger prey, and there are less of them, so they have less opportunity to "size us up" as a potential food source. \- Mountain Lions have more territorial pressure and because they are widely distributed around human populations, they often feel that humans might make a good food source because there are just so many of us around. It's pretty amazing how few Jaguar attacks on human there have been compared to Mountain Lions.
Didn't some rancher near Douglas kill two jaguars back in the day?
[удалено]
There's a classic ~~PBS~~ NMSU doc about sky island ecosystems and the Chiricahuas, and it talked about that Jaguar and WG! I think they had pictures of his dogs cornering the cat before it got away. I'll see if I can find it, but it was obviously older [FOUND IT - timestamped](https://youtu.be/Cp77EO4SMnA?t=1899) Really impressive photos considering the situation and technology he likely had
Whoa. "In the last 150 years, there have been only 54 confirmed sightings..." That's still an average of one sighting around every three years! I would have assumed far fewer.
Thank You! To actually see really good photos makes me appreciate them even more.
That's awesome thank u! I saw another article when I was googling more on this that apparently there's been three sightings of three different ones since 2015 or 2016, I believe.
That’s crazy! I had no idea jaguar were indigenous to Arizona
They aren't exactly, they are to the northern boarder of Mexico but have been pushed up due to activity etc. For a few years now, not sure how far back but I want to say 10+ years now. Still very rare sighting as big cats have large areas of territory and tend to roam them and the boundaries of them....
That guy sort of looks and sounds like the actor Scott Glenn. Wonder if he’s related?
Peter Glenn skies for sure
That's amazing!! Thanks for sharing!
Hmm not sure.
RIP Macho B.
This has always been part of southwest history before AZ border, Mexico and us occupation. Native communities have oral stories, songs, history related to jaguars or big cats. Now added walls and barriers that separated wildlife migrations and food supplies.
I love this.
Over the years the wall has stopped its migration but back in the day the us has a decent population of jaguars coming up from Mexico., population loss due to habitat destruction has made there numbers dwindle for quite some time. There has been “talks” about reintroducing them to the us with human intervention.
That is so cool. AZ will be the place where they discovered a mystery jaguar. This is great.
Oh that’s crazy I always thought the jaguars were like a myth. My old man lives out in Arizona.
We've had jags at the southern end of Pima County for years, one has been spotted near Patagonia, in Madera and down by nogalis. They think it's just one roaming the northern boarder of thier natural boundaries because of the activities by the border etc. Super cool!
Yeah I found when googling more on the topic that there's been 3 sightings of 3 different ones since 2015-16 I believe
We shall name him, “ Steve “.
Steve French.
Or some drug lords pet escaped.
Or retirees with their delicious miniature poodles are getting closer to the border.
Oh fantastic! As if arizona didn't have enough murderous wildlife... I learn about this 🤣