El Jefe (jaguar) facts for kids
El Jefe in Arizona, 2013
|
|
| Species | Jaguar |
|---|---|
| Sex | Male |
| Born | Likely Sierra Madre, northwest Mexico |
| Known for | Being one of the few wild jaguars to have been recently sighted in the U.S.A. |
| Residence | Mexico, North America |
El Jefe is a famous male jaguar who lived in Arizona, USA. His name means "The Boss" in Spanish. He was first seen in the Whetstone Mountains in November 2011. Later, he was photographed many times in the Santa Rita Mountains.
For about four years, El Jefe was the only wild jaguar known to be living in the United States. Before him, the last known jaguar in Arizona, Macho B, had died in 2009. In August 2022, it was confirmed that El Jefe had returned to Mexico. He was photographed there in November 2021. Mexico is where the closest group of jaguars that reproduce is found.
Contents
How El Jefe Got His Name
The name El Jefe, meaning "The Boss" in Spanish, was chosen by students. These students were from Felizardo Valencia Middle School in Tucson. They picked the name in a contest held in November 2015. This contest was organized by a group called the Center for Biological Diversity.
Many conservation groups and news outlets use this name. However, some researchers who studied him prefer to call him simply the Santa Ritas jaguar.
El Jefe's First Sighting
El Jefe was first spotted by a cougar hunter named Donnie Fenn. Fenn was with his 10-year-old daughter. This happened in the Whetstone Mountains on November 19, 2011. Fenn's hunting dogs chased the jaguar until it climbed a tree.
Fenn took several pictures of the jaguar. He then contacted wildlife officials in the state. At a news conference, Fenn explained what happened. The jaguar climbed down the first tree. It then injured some of the dogs while trying to get away. The jaguar was chased up a second tree. Fenn then called off his dogs and left the area.
These photos were the first proof of a wild jaguar in the United States since Macho B died in 2009. Many news places showed these pictures. A video said to be from the scene was not shared with the public.
El Jefe in the Santa Rita Mountains
On December 20, 2012, news was shared by several groups. These included the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Arizona Game and Fish Department, and the University of Arizona. They announced that new pictures of a jaguar had been taken. These pictures were from late November 2012 in the Santa Rita Mountains.
The photos were taken using camera-traps. These are special cameras that take pictures when an animal moves past them. The cameras were set up by the Jaguar Survey and Monitoring Project. This project is run by the University of Arizona. Researchers could tell it was the same jaguar because each jaguar has unique spot patterns. This is like fingerprints for humans.
Watching El Jefe Over Time
After the Santa Rita Mountains photos of El Jefe came out in 2012, more pictures and videos were released. These came from groups like the Wild Cat Research and Conservation Center at the University of Arizona. Conservation CATalyst also shared many updates.
A video from Conservation CATalyst became very popular. It showed El Jefe on different days. This video was released together with the Center for Biological Diversity.
El Jefe was also tracked by a special dog named Mayke. Mayke is a scat detection dog for Conservation CATalyst. Scat is animal droppings. Mayke found the first jaguar scat in the United States that was confirmed by DNA. She found over a hundred other signs of jaguars.
El Jefe's Return to Central Sonora
On August 3, 2022, a group of conservation organizations shared big news. This group is called Borderlands Linkages Initiative. They announced that El Jefe had been photographed again. The pictures were taken in central Sonora, Mexico.
The photos were actually taken several months earlier, on November 27, 2021. But it took time to get the camera data. Then, the photos had to be checked against a database of known jaguars. This identification was finally made in late July 2022. After August 4, 2022, news of El Jefe's return spread widely in Mexico and the U.S.
Why El Jefe is Important
El Jefe was very important because he was the only confirmed jaguar living in the United States for four years. Jaguars used to live all across the American Southwest. Before El Jefe, people thought jaguars had completely disappeared from the United States.
Historically, jaguars were found in Texas, Louisiana, Arizona, and New Mexico. There were even older records of them in California and Colorado. But since the 1940s, they have mostly been seen only in the southern parts of Arizona and New Mexico.
In 2010, the US Fish and Wildlife Service was asked to create a plan to help jaguars recover. They also had to mark areas as "critical habitat" for jaguars. The Santa Rita Mountains, where El Jefe lived, are now part of this critical habitat. This means these areas are very important for the jaguar's survival.
Where El Jefe Came From
El Jefe most likely came from a group of jaguars in eastern Sonora, Mexico. This group is called the Huásabas-Sahuaripa population. Many efforts have been made to protect these jaguars. One important effort is the Northern Jaguar Reserve. This is a private wildlife sanctuary. It started in 2003 and has grown much larger since then.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service wants to understand how jaguars travel from Mexico to the United States. They asked the Wildlife Conservation Society to create a model. This model helps identify areas that jaguars might use as wildlife corridors. These corridors connect jaguar groups in Mexico to places where they have been seen in the U.S.
The report showed maps of these important areas. It also pointed out where these corridors cross major highways. This helps in planning how to protect jaguars. For jaguars to truly recover in the U.S., at least one female jaguar needs to live and reproduce there.
Challenges for Jaguars
El Jefe's presence in the Santa Rita Mountains brought attention to several projects. These projects could harm jaguar habitat.
The Rosemont Copper mining project is one example. Many groups are against it because of its possible environmental impact. Another project is the Villages at Vigneto housing development. People are concerned it could damage the jaguars' critical habitat.
The Mexico-United States barrier (the border wall) is also a big problem. It makes it hard for female jaguars to travel from Mexico into Arizona. This wall and other new structures are a major concern for jaguar recovery.
Mexican Federal Highways No. 2 and No.15 are also obstacles. These highways can block jaguars from moving freely. Highway 2 has been expanded since 2010. Groups like Wildlands Network say that wildlife crossings are needed. These crossings would help jaguars and other animals cross the roads safely.
See also
In Spanish: El Jefe (jaguar) para niños
- Big cat
- Juma the jaguar
