November 21, 2011 by David Schwatrz and Tim Gaynor An Arizona
hunter has made a rare confirmed sighting of a wild jaguar close
to the Mexico border in southeastern Arizona, the Arizona Game
and Fish Department said on Monday. Jaguars' habitat ranges from
Argentina to the rugged borderlands of Arizona and New Mexico.
There have only been a handful of sightings by hunters in
Arizona, and no jaguars are believed to breed in the United
States. The report was received on Saturday morning from an
experienced hunter using dogs to track mountain lions in Cochise
County, in southeast Arizona, the department said. The large cat
was driven up a mesquite tree, where the hunter was able to take
photographs and video. The footage was subsequently viewed by
the department, which classified the sighting as "verifiable or
highly probable." "It's very exciting ... we know that jaguars
use southern Arizona as part of their northern habitat ...
Although confirmed sightings are fairly rare," Lynda Lambert, a
spokeswoman with the