NOGALES, AZ — For the first time in at least 50 years, a rare and endangered ocelot has been spotted in a region of southern Arizona.
The animal was captured on video from a wildlife camera in June in the Coronado National Forest in the Nogales area of southern Arizona.
Several agencies reviewed the footage and concluded that this was a new cat that had never been seen in the state before, and that this was the first ocelot sighting in the Atascosa Highlands region in over 50 years.
“This cat was observed in the desert and at lower elevations than most historical records of ocelots in Arizona,” say Phoenix Zoo officials.
“The discovery of a new ocelot in southern Arizona underscores our commitment to collaborative efforts to protect wildlife and habitats in the region,” said Bert Castro, president and CEO of the Arizona Center for Nature Conservation and the Phoenix Zoo, in a press release. “We are excited to analyze more camera data from this study to see what else we can learn about species under conservation protection in the borderlands and what they need for their continued survival.”
Last year, another ocelot was captured on video in the Huachuca Mountain Range, more than 50 miles from the sighting in the Atascosa Highlands.
The Phoenix Zoo first deployed cameras in the Atascosa area last year to study wildlife and habitats in this “relatively under-explored” area.
Volunteers and zoo staff will return to the area several times in the coming months to collect additional camera data for future study.
Learn more about the sighting and Phoenix Zoo’s studies here.
