In the United States, ocelots used to roam the Southwest in large numbers, but over the years their numbers in some parts of their range have declined, leading to the species being listed as endangered in the US in 1982. However, footage from a hidden camera in Arizona has shown that the species may be returning to parts of their habitat that they were thought to have abandoned.
The Phoenix Zoo’s ongoing Atascosa Complex Wildlife Study captured video of a never-before-seen ocelot in southern Arizona earlier this summer, and the organization detailed it in a recent statement. It was caught on a hidden camera in the Nogales Ranger District of the Coronado National Forest, where the zoo has been setting up field cameras since April under a U.S. Forest Service research permit.
“This is the first time an ocelot has been seen in the Atascosa Highlands region in at least 50 years,” the zoo said in a statement. Unsurprisingly, the sighting was not in an area easily accessible to humans.
“This particular location required a 40-minute walk because the temperature reached 95 degrees,” said Kinley Ragan, the Phoenix Zoo's field research project manager. “The ocelot video was one of the last videos I reviewed, and it sent shivers down my body with excitement and pride in what we had recorded. At first I was in disbelief, watching the video over and over again, but soon a big smile appeared on my face as the full impact of this discovery for the important region became clear.”
“Finding evidence of a new ocelot in southern Arizona strengthens our commitment to collaborative efforts to protect wildlife and habitats in the region,” added zoo president and CEO Bert Castro. “We look forward to examining additional camera data from this study to see what else we can learn about species of conservation concern in border areas and what they need to survive.”
Time will tell if this is a sign of a growing population in the area that ocelots call home.