Copter pilot reports jaguar sighting in So. Ariz.
Associated Press
Posted on December 1, 2011 at 11:03 AM
Updated today at 11:03 AM
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — The U.S. Border Patrol says a helicopter pilot flying in southern Arizona spotted a rare jaguar heading down a heavily forested hill.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security pilot saw the endangered big cat last June in the Santa Rita Mountains south of Tucson. The Border Patrol confirmed the sighting on Wednesday after the Arizona Daily Star http://bit.ly/v09yQ7 inquired about it.
State Game and Fish Department spokesman Mark Hart called the sighting “very credible” but not confirmed. That’s because no photographs or video were taken and officials could not find evidence of the cat on the ground.
Last week, Game and Fish confirmed a jaguar sighting in Cochise County on November 19. It was first time since 2009 that one of the big cats was confirmed in the U.S.
Information from: Arizona Daily Star, http://www.azstarnet.com
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