GF 11.2:0 23
OCELOT, JAGUAR AND JAGUARUNDI
SIGHTING REPORTS:
Arizona and Sonora, Mexico
Adele L. Girmendonk
Nongame Mammals Biologist
Technical Report 35
Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program
Program Chief: Terry B. Johnson
Arizona Game and Fish Department
2221 West Greenway Road
Phoenix, Arizona 85023-4312
April 1994
...
Recommended citation: Girmendonk, A.L. 1994. Ocelot, jaguar
and jaguarundi sighting reports: Arizona and Sonora, Mexico.
Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program Technical Report 35.
Arizona Game and Fish Department, Phoenix, Arizona.
OCT 4
ARIZONA STATE LIBRARY
ARCHIVES & PUBLIC RECORDS
OCT 4 2001
Funding for this project was provided by: voluntary contributions
to Arizona's Nongame Wildlife Checkoff; the Arizona Game and
Fish Department's Heritage Fund; Project W-95-M, Jobs 2 and 4,
under the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act (PittmanRobertson
Act); and Project E5, Job 6, under Title VI of the
Endangered Species Act.
OCELOT, JAGUAR AND JAGUARUNDI SIGHTING REPORTS:
Arizona and Sonora, Mexico
Adele L. Ginnendonk
Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program
Arizona Game and Fish Department
April 1994
The following document summarizes all ocelot (Felis pardalis) , jaguar (Felis onca arizonensis)
and jaguarundi (Felis yagouaroundi) observation reports known to the Arizona Game and Fish
Department (AGFD) from Arizona and Sonora. Reports were gathered from published
documents, letters and through personal communication.
Reports were evaluated using the class criteria developed by Tewes and Everett (1986) for
evaluating ocelot and jaguarundi sightings in southern Texas (Table 1). These criteria provide
systematic assessment for validating or discounting cat sighting reports. This scoring system was
used by AGFD to evaluate the sightings listed in this document. Class I reports are considered
credible observations and require the recorder or observer to have the animal in hand, therefore,
they are confirmed reports. Class II reports represent reliable sightings without supporting
evidence, therefore, a Class II score does not necessarily validate the cat sighting, but does place
a greater weight on the possibility than Class III scores. Class III reports are considered
unreliable as account details are vague, observer reliability is questionable and/or the animal
described is something other than an ocelot, jaguar or jaguarundi.
The ocelot, jaguar and jaguarundi reports were compiled separately in table format (Tables 2,
3, & 4), then plotted on distribution maps (Figs" 1, 2 & 3). Only those sighting reports scored
in Class I or Class II were used to plot potential cat ranges. Class III reports were included
within the tables, but were not plotted on distribution maps.
Reported cat observations were further detailed in Table 5 which summarizes the number of
ocelot, jaguar and jaguarundi reports by Arizona County and total report numbers from Sonora.
Only Class I and II reports were included in Table 5.
HISTORIC DISTRIBUTIONS
Ocelot
Ocelots are known to range from the extreme southern United States south to Paraguay and
northern Argentina. They are considered rare to abundant in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize,
Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Surinam, French
Guiana, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Paraguay (Tewes and Everett 1986). United States
and Argentina habitat ranges are limited and poorly understood (Koford 1976; Culbertson and
Schmidly 1974).
.,.,.--~-----------------~---~---
Arizona Game and Fish Department
Ocelot, Jaguar & Jaguarundi Sightings in AZ & Sonora
April 1994
Page 2
Confirmed ocelot reports from Arizona are scarce. The earliest Arizona ocelot report came from
Fort Verde in 1887. Edgar Mearns collected the skin which was later given to the U.S" National
Museum in Washington, D.C. However, whether the ocelot was killed in the Camp Verde area
or merely obtained there is unknown (Hoffmeister 1986).
The current distribution of ocelots in Sonora is unknown (Brown 1992). Burt (1938) studied the
mammals of Sonora finding only five ocelots in scientific collections, all from extreme southern
Sonora in the Alamos region. Other reports indicate ocelot presence in the foothills of the Sierra
Madre Occidental through Sonora, and probably into northern Sinaloa (Burt 1938). The ocelot
was recently reported as rare in Arizona and southern Texas (Hall 1981).
AGFD has ocelot observation reports from 11 locations in Arizona, six in Sonora and one from
an unknown location from 1887 to March 1994. Of the 18 reports, 10 were evaluated as credible
accounts and five were confirmed. Confirmed ocelot reports were from Pima, Yavapai and
Cochise counties in Arizona, and near the villages of Camoa and Guirocoba in Sonora. The last
confirmed account of an ocelot in Arizona was in 1964.
Jaguar
There are 16 jaguar subspecies ranging from southern regions of the United States through
Central and South America. The jaguar subspecies F. o. arizonensis occupies the mountainous
regions of eastern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico and northeastern Sonora (Lange 1960).
While Goldman (1932) considered jaguars rare in Arizona, the most appreciable number of
jaguar reports for this century occurred in this state (Gustafson 1963).
A note should be made of possible misrepresentation for some of the more recent jaguars killed
in Arizona. Three of the 1958 and 1959 kills may have been jaguars captured in Sonora then
released in Arizona by a hunt guide (Gustafson 1963) who was later convicted of conducting
fraudulent hunts. However, these kills were used in mapping potential jaguar range"
AGFD has 81 jaguar reports from Arizona and one in Sonora from 1848 to March 1994.
Twenty-six of the total observations were evaluated as credible accounts, but only 17 (this
includes the three questionable specimens in 1958 and 1959) were confirmed reports" Confirmed
jaguar reports were from Pima, Cochise, Navajo, Santa Cruz, Apache and possibly Gila counties
in Arizona, and one from an unknown location in Sonora. The last confirmed report of a jaguar
in Arizona was in 1987.
Jaguarundi
The distribution of jaguarundis within known Central and South America ranges is poorly
understood (USFWS 1980) and few confirmed jaguarundi reports are known from the United
States. Jaguarundis inhabit extreme southern regions of Texas (Hall 1981; Davis 1974) and
possibly extreme southern Arizona as well (Little 1938). The Arizona record was from an
observation in 1938, but was never confirmed.
Arizona Game and Fish Department
Ocelot, Jaguar & Jaguarundi Sightings in AZ & Sonora
April 1994
Page 3
AGFD has 35 jaguarundi reports from Arizona and one possible account in southern Sonora
from March 1938 to March 1994. Of these 36 reports, 19 were evaluated as credible sightings
and none represent confirmed observations.
The following criteria were selected by Tewes and Everett (1986) for evaluating ocelot and
jaguarundi sightings in southern Texas. This system is used by the Arizona Game and Fish
Department to evaluate ocelot, jaguar and jaguarundi sightings in Arizona and Sonora. Class I
reports are considered credible, Class II reports represent reliable sightings without supporting
evidence and Class III reports are considered unreliable and are therefore not used to determine
potential cat range.
Table 1. Criteria (Tewes and Everett 1986) used by the Arizona Game and Fish
Department to evaluate ocelot, jaguar and jaguarundi sightings.
CLASS RATING CONDITIONS
10 Cat in possession of recorder or is seen by recorder.
Cat in possession of observer (via trapping, hunting, treeing
I 9 by hounds, or a roadkill) and seen by second observer, or
evidence seen by recorder (i.e. photograph, pelage, skull).
8 Cat in possession of observer and observer seems reliable or
cat observed by two or more reliable individuals.
7 Detailed description of event provided and the observer
seems reliable.
II Observer is "experienced in the outdoors" or is accustomed
6 to looking for details (i.e . biologist, trapper, bird watcher,
game warden, hunter).
5 Observer is not "experienced in the outdoors" ..
4 Details of observer are vague and not specific or account is
inconsistent.
3 Observer seems to have questionable credibility and
III exaggerates other events.
2 Observer describes an animal other than an ocelot, jaguar or
jaguarundi .
1 Observation is of no value.
Arizona Game and Fish Department
Ocelot, Jaguar & Jaguarundi Sightings in AZ & Sonora
April 1994
Page 4
The following table summarizes ocelot sightings known to AGFD from Arizona and Sonora from 1887
to March 1994,
Table 2. Summary of reported ocelot observations in Arizona and Sonora from 1887 to March 1994.
LOCATION
(Arizona County 01'
MAP NO.' Sonoran location) TYPE OF OBSERVATION YEAR CLASS
1 Pima County, AZ Skull (From archeological dig find in -1600 (Pre- I
early 1960's) Spanish in SW)
2 OBTAINED: Yavapai County, AZ Skin 1887 I
PLACE KILLED: Unknown (U S National Museum, DC.)
I
3 Camoa, Rio Mayo, Killed (1) 1925 I
Sonora Type specimen: Fp,sonoriemil
4 Rio Mayo, Sonora Killed (4) Prior to I
(U S National Museum, DC,) World War II
5 Yavapai County, AZ Killed (1) 1931--1932 II
* Cochise County, AZ Sighting (1) 1960 III
6 Graham County, AZ Sighting (1) 1963 II
7 Cochise County, AZ Killed (1) 1964 I
8 Sierra Azul Mts" Sonora Killed (1) 1966 II
9 Arizpe, Sonora Killed (1) 1970 II
10 Rio Yaqui, CenlIal Sonora Killed (1) > 1970 II
* Sierra Azul Mts, Sonora Killed (1) 1974 III
* Pinal; Navajo or Apache; Pima Killed (> = 4) 1980-1986 III
Counties, AZ
* Cochise County, AZ Sighting (1) 1986 III
* Cochise County, AZ Sighting (1) and Scat 1991 III
* Unknown Killed (1) 1991-1993 III
(possibly AZ or Mexico) (Remains sold illegally in NM)
* Maricopa County, AZ Sighting (1) 1993 III
* Yavapai County, AZ Sighting (l) 1993 III
1 Only Class I and Class II observation reports were mapped.
April 1994
Page 5
(7-10
• Hermosillo
o ID 100
M••2&!!£22S
Class I (Confirmed report)
o Class II (Reliable but unconfirmed report)
Arizona Game and Fish Department
Ocelot, Jaguar & Jaguarundi Sightings in AZ & Sonora
Figure 1. Ocelot sightings in Arizona and Sonora, Mexico, 1887-1994,
The following table summarizes jaguar sightings known to AGFD from Arizona and one from
an unknown location in Sonora from 1848 to March 1994.
Table 3. Summary of jaguar observations reported in Arizona and Sonora from 1848 to March 1994.
MAP NO.' LOCATION (Arizona COWlty) TYPE OF OBSERVATION YEAR CLASS
* Cochise Sighting (1) 1848 III
* Pima Killed (1) 1858 III
* Coconino or Mohave Killed (3) 1885-1890 III
* Pima Killed (1) -1900 III
* Cochise Ki)led (1) -1900 III
* Gila Killed (1) -1900 III
* Pima Killed (3 to 4) -1900 III
* Cochise Killed (I) 1901 III
* Pima Sighting (1) 1902 III
I Pima Killed (1) 1902 I
(U.S National Museum, D.. C.)
* Pinal or Pima Killed (1) 1902 III
2 Santa Cruz Killed (1) 1903 II
* Yavapai Killed (1) -1904 III
* Santa Cruz Killed (2) 1904-1907 III
* Coconino Killed (1) -1907 III
* Navajo Killed (1) -1907 III
* Coconino Killed (I) 1909-1918 III
* Coconino Killed (2) 1910 III
* Cochise Killed (I) 1910 III
3 Cochise Killed (I) 1912 I
(University of AZ Collection)
* Coconino Killed (2) 1912 III
* Yavapai Killed (I) 1912 III
* Pima Killed (1) 1912 III
* Pima Killed (I) 1912 III
4 Pinal Killed (I) 1913 II
5 Pima Killed (I) 1917 I
(U.S National Museum, DC.)
* Cochise Sign 1917-1919 III
Arizona Game and Fish Department
Ocelot, Jaguar & Jaguarundi Sightings in AZ & Sonora
April 1994
Page 6
Arizona Game and Fish Department
Ocelot, Jaguar & Jaguarundi Sightings in AZ & Sonora
April 1994
Page 7
Table 3. Jaguar reports continued" . "
MAP NO.1 LOCATION (Arizona County) TYPE OF OBSERVATION YEAR CLASS
* Pima Sign 1917-1919 III
* Pima Sighting (Several) 1918 III
* Pima Sighting (Several) 1918 III
* Pima Sighting (Several) 1918 III
* Santa Cruz Killed (1) 1918 III
6 Pima Killed (1) 1919 I
(U.S National Museum, DC)
7 Pima Killed (1) 1920 II
* Pima Sighting (1) 1920 III
* Pima or Santa Cruz Killed (1) 1920 III
* Pima Sighting (1) 1923 III
8 Navajo Killed (1) 1924 I
(U S National Museum, DC.)
9 Santa Cruz Killed (2) 1926 I
(US National Museum, D. C )
* Yavapai Killed (1) 1926 III
* Cochise Killed (1) 1926-1930 III
* Maricopa Killed (1) 1928-1929 III
* Coconino Killed (1) 1932 III
* Maricopa Killed (1) 1933 III I
10 Santa Cruz Killed (1) 1933 II
* Cochise Observed/Trailed (1) -1933 III
(Escaped)
* Pima Killed (1) 1934 III
* Yavapai Killed (1) 1939 III
* Cochise Trapped (1) 1939 III
(Escaped)
11 Pima or Santa Cruz Killed (1) 1941 II
* Pima Sighting (1) 1945 III
* Santa Cruz Killed (1) 1947 III
* Santa Cruz Killed (1) 1948 III
12 Pima Killed (1) 1949 I
Arizona Game and Fish Department
Ocelot, Jaguar & Jaguarundi Sightings in AZ & Sonora
April 1994
Page 8
Table 3. Jaguar reports continued ...
MAP NO.! LOCATION (Arizona County) TYPE OF OBSERVATION YEAR CLASS
13 Santa Cruz Killed (1) 1958 I
(Possibly released) (University of AZ Collection)
* Gila (Probably) Sighting (1) 1958 III
14 Santa Cruz (Possibly released) Killed (1) 1959 I
15 Santa Cruz (Possibly released) Killed (1) 1959 I
16 Cochise Killed (1) 1961 I
17 Apache Killed (1) 1963 I
18 Navajo or Gila Killed (I) 1964 I
(U.S National Museum, D.C.)
19 Santa Cruz Killed (1) (Skull at UofAZ) 1965 I
20 Santa Cruz Killed (1) (Skull at UofAZ) 1971 I
* Santa Cruz Sighting (1) and Tracks 1978 III
* Pima Sighting (Several) 1985 III
21 Cochise Killed (1) 1986 I
22 Pima Sighting (I) and Tracks 1988 II
23 Pima Sighting (I) 1988 II
* Pima Sign (Cattle Kill) 1988 III
24 Cochise Co, AZ (1); Sonora (1) Killed(2) (Illegally sold in NM) 1991-1993 I
* Cochise Sighting (I) 1991 III
* Pima Sighting (I) 1992 III
* Pima Sighting (Several) 1992 III
* Graham Sighting (1) 1992 III
* Santa Cruz Sighting (1) and Tracks 1993 III
* Santa Cruz Tracks 1993 III
* Santa Cruz Tracks 1993 III
* Pima Sighting (1) 1993 III
25 Cochise Sighting (I) 1993 II
26 Pima Sighting (1) and Deer Kill 1993 II
* Pima Tracks 1993 III
* Cochise Killed (I) Unknown III
1 Only Class I and Class II observation reports were mapped..
Arizona Game and Fish Department
Ocelot, Jaguar & Jaguarundi Sightings in AZ & Sonora
>$t
o 10 1110
" ..&2S
6 Class I (Confirmed report)
o Class II (Reliable but unconfirmed report)
April 1994
Page 9
Figure 2. Jaguar sightings in Arizona and Sonora, Mexico, 1848-1994. Note: Location number
24 includes two jaguars taken from unknown locations in Cochise County, Arizona and Sonora.
These reports were not plotted on the distribution map.
Arizona Game and Fish Department
Ocelot, Jaguar & Jaguarundi Sightings in AZ & Sonora
April 1994
Page 10
The following table summarizes jaguarundi sightings known to AGFD in Arizona and Sonora
from March 1938 to March 1994. There is only one known sighting from Sonora.
Table 4. Summary of reported jaguarundi observations in Arizona from March 1938 to March 1994,
with one reported sighting from Sonora in 1982.
MAP NO.1 LOCATION (Arizona County) TYPE. OF OBSERVATION YEAR CLASS
1 Santa Cruz Sighting (1) 1938 II
2 Pima Sighting (1) 1955 II
* Cochise Sighting (Several) 1958-1962 III
* Cochise Sighting (1) -1960 III
I
HELD IN: Maricopa County, AZ; Captive jaguarundi kits
* POINT OF CAPTURE: Reportedly (3) Early 1960's III
Northern Sonora, Mexico
* Pima Sightings (> 6) 1960-1981 III
* Pima Sighting (2) 1960-1981 III
3 Santa Cruz Sighting (1) 1975 II
4 Santa Cruz Sighting (1) 1975 II
* Cochise Sighting (2) 1980's III
5 Pima Roadkill (1) 1981 II
6 Pima Sighting (1) 1982 II
7 Cochise Sighting (2) 1982 II
8 Alamos, Sonora, Mexico Sighting (I) 1982 II
* Santa Cruz Sighting (1) 1982 III
9 Cochise Sighting (1) 1982-1983 II
10 Pima Tl1lcks 1983 II
* Pima Sighting (1) 1984 III
* Santa Cruz Sighting (1) 1985 III
11 Maricopa Sighting (1) 1985-1986 II
* Cochise Sighting (Several) 1986 III
12 Cochise Sighting (1) 1987-1988 II
13 Pima Sighting (1) 1988 II
* Maricopa Sighting (1) 1988 III
* Pima Sighting (1) 1989 III
14 Cochise Sighting (1) 1990 II
Arizona Game and Fish Department
Ocelot, Jaguar & Jaguarundi Sightings in AZ & Sonora
April 1994
Page 11
Table 4. Jaguarundi reports continued ...
MAP NO.' LOCATION (Arizona County) TYPE OF OBSERVATION YEAR CLASS
15 Cochise Sighting (1) 1990 II
16 Cochise Sighting (5-6 lone; 1 pair) 1991 II
17 Cochise Sighting (l) 1991 II
18 Cochise Sighting (l) 1991 II
* Cochise Sighting (l) and Scat 1991 III
* Cochise Sighting (3) 1991 III
* Cochise Sighting (l) 1991 III
19 Pima Sighting (l) 1992 II
* Cochise Sighting (l) 1993 III
* Pima Sighting (l) 1994 III
1 Only Class I and Class II observation reports were mapped"
Arizona Game and Fish Department
Ocelot, Jaguar & Jaguarundi Sightings in AZ & Sonora
o 50 100
M..!L!££
Figure 3. Jaguarundi sightings in Arizona and Sonora, Mexico, 1938-1994.
April 1994
Page 12
Arizona Game and Fish Department
Ocelot, Jaguar & Jaguarundi Sightings in AZ & Sonora
April 1994
Page 13
L
The following information identifies ocelot, jaguar and/or jaguarundi observation reports by
Arizona county and from Sonora. Only those reports scored in Class I or II (Tewes and Everett
1986) were considered reliable. Class III observations were not included in Table 5" One jaguar
report represents two animals taken from Cochise County, Arizona and from an unknown
location in Sonora. This produces a discrepancy in total reports (numbers add up to 27, but there
were only 26 Class I and II observations). There were no Class Ijaguarundi sightings, therefore,
numbers solely represent Class II sighting reports.
Table 5, Class I and II ocelot, jaguar and jaguarundi reports known to the Arizona Game and
Fish Department fr'Om 1848 to March 1994 shown by Arizona County and from Sonora"
Species
Locations Ocelot Jaguar Jaguarundi
Arizona County
Apache 0 I 0
Cochise I 5 (1 =part double report) 8
Graham 1 0 0
Maricopa 0 0 1
Navajo 0 I 0
Pima 1 8 6
Pinal 0 1 0
I
Santa Cruz 0 7 (3 = questionable) 3
Yavapai 2 0 0
Miscellaneous 0 Navajo/Gila (1) 0
Pima/Santa Cruz (1)
Santa Cruz/Cochise (1)
Mexico 0
Sonora 5 1 (part of double report) 1
Total Class I and II 10 26 (one is part of a 19
Observations double report)
Arizona Game and Fish Department
Ocelot, Jaguar & Jaguarundi Sightings in AZ & Sonora
CONCLUSIONS
April 1994
Page 14
Of the 18 ocelot sightings known to AGFD from 1887 to March 1994, 10 were evaluated as
credible. Of these 10 observations, three were confirmed reports from Arizona (Pima, Cochise
and Yavapai counties) and two were confirmed from Sonora near the villages of Camoa and
Guirocoba.
There were 82 jaguar reports collected from 1848 to March 1994 in Arizona and one from
Sonora. Only 26 reports were evaluated as credible accounts, of which 17 were confirmed (this
includes the three jaguars killed in southern Arizona that were possibly captured in Sonora then
released in Arizona). Confirmed Arizona locations include Pima, Cochise, Navajo, Santa Cruz
and Apache counties, with one confirmed take from an unknown location in Sonora.
There are no confirmed jaguarundi reports from Arizona or Sonora from March 1938 to March
1994. A total of 36 reports were collected including only one from Sonora. Nineteen were
evaluated as credible Class II accounts from Santa Cruz, Pima, Cochise and Maricopa counties
in Arizona plus the single taken from an unknown location in Sonora.
Arizona Game and Fish Department
Ocelot, Jaguar & Jaguarundi Sightings in AZ & Sonora
LITERATURE CITED
April 1994
Page 15
Brown, D.E. 1992. Status summary of the ocelot in Arizona and Northern Sonora (Phase I)
Arizona Game and Fish Department, Phoenix, Arizona. 6 pp.
Burt, W.H.. 1938. Faunal relationships and geographic distribution of mammals in Sonora,
Mexico. Univ. Mich. Mus. Zool. Misc. Publ. No. 39:1-77.
Culbertson, K. and D.J. Schmidly. 1974. Summary of statements on the status of the rare,
endangered, and peripheral mammals in Texas. Texas Organization for Endangered
Species, Temple. 8 pp.
Davis, W.B. 1974. The mammals of Texas. Texas Parks and \Vildlife BulL No.41. 252 pp ..
Goldman, E.A. 1932. The jaguars of North America. Proc .. BioI. Soc. Wash. 45: 143-146.
Gustafson, T..A. 1963. The jaguar Felis onea. Report to AGFD, Arizona.
Hall, E.R. 1981. The mammals of North America. 2 vols. John Wiley & Sons, NY. 1,181 pp.
Hoffmeister, D.E 1986. Mammals of Arizona. The University of Arizona Press and the
Arizona Game and Fish Department. Phoenix, Arizona. 602 pp.
Koford, C. 1976. Latin American cats: economic values and future prospects. In The world's
cats: contributions to status, management and conservation. VoL III, No. L
Lange, K.I. 1960. The jaguar in Arizona. ~rans. Kansas Acad. Sci. 63(2):96-101.
Little, E.L. 1938. A record of the jaguarundi in Arizona. J. Mammal. 19:500-501.
Tewes, M.E. and D.D. Everett. 1986. Status and distribution of the endangered ocelot and
jaguarundi in Texas. Pages 147-158 in Cats of the World: Biology, Conservation, and
Management (S.D. Miller and D.D. Everett, eds.). National Wildlife Federation,
Washington, D.C., 501 pp.
USFWS. 1980. The jaguarundi--selected vertebrate endangered species of the seacoast of the
United States. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Servo FWS/OBS-80/01.45. Washington, D.C.
5 pp.
