Last Wild Jaguar Living in U.S. Dies After Illegal Snaring

(Jan. 26) -- The United States' last resident jaguar was euthanized last February by the Arizona Fish and Game Department after being caught in a trap intended for mountain lions and bears – or so it seemed at the time.

Now comes a report from the U.S. Interior Department's inspector general stating that the jaguar, a 118-pound male named Macho B, was in fact intentionally and illegally snared by employees of the Arizona Game and Fish Department, contrary to their earlier claims that the capture was accidental.

The jaguar seemed to be in good health when he was caught in a leg snare last February. Arizona Fish and Game employees tranquilized him, equipped him with a radio collar and released him. A few days later Macho B wasn't moving. He was brought to the Phoenix Zoo where he was diagnosed with irreversible kidney failure and euthanized, ending the long history of the United States' wild jaguar population with a whimper.

Arizona Game & Fish Dept

Macho B was collared and tracked by the Arizona Game & Fish Department before the incident that led to his death.

The biggest cat in the Western Hemisphere used to occupy a swath of territory from California to Tierra Del Fuego, but today it is limited mostly to northern and central South America – only one female jaguar with a cub has been sighted in the United States since the 1900's. Like other top predators, the jaguar is especially vulnerable to habitat loss, and has been on the endangered list since 1997.

The investigation of Macho B's death comes shortly after the Obama administration gave the jaguar federal protection by announcing plans for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to establish a critical habitat for the recovery of the species in the Southwestern desert. While some hailed this decision as a step forward for the protection of an endangered species, others believed that the jaguars have left the U.S. because the climate is no longer right for them, and an attempt to bring them back would be misguided and expensive, drawing attention away from better ways to help jaguars.

According to a New York Times op-ed by author and jaguar biologist Alan Rabinowitz, Macho B's extensive travels indicated that he was having a rough time surviving in the rugged desert.

Following Macho B's capture in February 2009 but before his death a few days later, Arizona biologist John M. Lynch blogged about how the opportunity to study this strange animal was a boon to desert jaguar researchers – and it likely could have provided good information about the jaguar's place in the United States. Now, the efforts of the Fish and Wildlife Service will help to determine whether jaguars belong here.