As if animals in zoos aren’t stressed enough, we mess them up in the wild, too.
The only jaguar known to still be living in the wild in this country was euthanized late Monday afternoon after being recaptured and found to have advanced kidney failure, state officials said.
The cat, known as Macho B, age 15 or 16, was euthanized at the Phoenix Zoo a few hours after he had been captured Monday afternoon in Southern Arizona’s oak woodlands. That recapture had occurred 12 days after the state Game and Fish Department had first captured the animal inadvertently in an undisclosed area southwest of Tucson as part of an effort to catch and study mountain lions and bears.
Stress from the original capture could have contributed to the kidney failure, a federal agency spokesman said late Monday. A Game and Fish official would not comment on that possibility until the results of blood tests taken on the animal at the time of the first capture are reviewed.
www.azstarnet.com [emphasis mine]
This is so sad. I was living in Tucson, years ago, when there were several sightings of a jaguar in the Tubac area. I remember it well. At the time I thought, what a cool thing to have jaguars in them thar hills! I read through all of the comments from this article. (100+!) People are really mad and I don’t blame them. The method they used to capture is torturous. (Leg snares!) What a beautiful animal. What a terrible waste/loss.
Makes me so mad/sad!
“the only jaguar known…
That phrase kind’ve gives one hope that there could be others that spend some time in Arizona.
There is a great map about jaguar movements in the current National Geographic. You can check out the online version here:
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/03/jaguars/photo-map-interactive