Girl Scouts donate books to Desert Foothills Library
February 25, 2009
Courtesy Photo
Junior Girl Scout troop number 1214 donated over two hundred books to the Friends of the Desert Foothills Library. The fourth graders from Cave Creek schools worked hard collecting gently used children's books from their neighbors and schools for their fifteen hours of community service and the Book Drive patch. Pictured from left are; Gabriella Gianni, Emme Black, Kourtney O'Connor, Natalie Kreuzer, troop leader Tracy Kreuzer, Shannon Harrington, Ariana Heiner and Korie Kerr. Not pictured are Olivia Nicholls, Allysa Grove and Katie Shotsky.
Arizona Game and Fish collars first wild jaguar in United States
February 25, 2009
PHOENIX – Jaguar conservation has just experienced an exciting development with the capture and collaring of the first wild jaguar in Arizona by the Arizona Game and Fish Department.
The male cat was incidentally captured in an area southwest of Tucson during a research study aimed at monitoring habitat connectivity for mountain lions and black bears.
The jaguar was fitted with a satellite tracking collar and then released. Early tracking indicates the cat is doing well and has already traveled more than three miles from the capture site.
The data produced by the collar will shed light on a little-studied population segment of this species that uses southern Arizona and New Mexico as the northern extent of its range.
“While we didn’t set out to collar a jaguar as part of the mountain lion and bear research project, we took advantage of an important opportunity,” says Terry Johnson, endangered species coordinator for the Arizona Game and Fish Department.
The jaguar plan, which was created in consultation with other leading jaguar experts, includes a protocol for capture, sedation and handling in the event a cat was captured.
Biologists are currently working on an identification analysis to determine if the collared jaguar is Macho B, a male cat that has been photographed by trail cameras periodically over the past 13 years.
The collared jaguar weighed in at 118 pounds with a thick and solid build. Field biologists‚ assessment shows the cat appeared to be healthy and hardy.
The species has been protected outside of the United States under the Endangered Species Act since 1973. That protection was extended to jaguars within the U.S. in 1997.
In 1997, a team was established in Arizona and New Mexico to protect and conserve the species. The Jaguar Conservation Team (JCT) began working with Mexico two years later, recognizing that the presence of jaguars in the United States depends on the conservation of the species in Mexico.
Trail cameras and field monitoring are carried out by the Borderlands Jaguar Detection Project, a group that works in cooperation with the JCT.
Jaguars are the only cat in North America that roars. They prey on a variety of mammals, fish, birds and reptiles. Individuals in the northern population weigh between 80-120 pounds. Females breed year-round and have litters of one to four cubs that stay with their mother for nearly two years.