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Off topic: The Predator that kills in one jump

Subject: Off topic: The Predator that kills in one jump
From: "George Paul" geopaul7
Date: Fri Feb 20, 2009 5:30 pm ((PST))
Given our mutual love of biological diversity I thought I would post this:

"Arizona Game and Fish Department officials captured, collared and released the 
first 
jaguar found in Arizona borders Wednesday.

The 118-pound male cat was found in a lug hold snare set out by department 
officials and 
fitted with a satellite-tracking collar and released.

Terry Johnson, Endangered Species Specialist at the Arizona Game and Fish 
Department, 
said the jaguar was confirmed by his spotted pattern to be Macho B, a jaguar 
that has 
been photographed by trail cameras for about 13 years.

Macho B was first photographed at about two to three years old, which makes him 
currently near 16 years old, Johnson said. Macho B is the oldest documented 
wild jaguar in 
the world.

Despite his age, Johnson said Macho B "looks in darn fine condition" and is 
nearly at the 
average weight of male jaguars with good muscular tone.

Since 1971, only six jaguars have been documented in the U.S. In the past 120 
years, less 
than 70 of these animals have been documented.

The department unsuccessfully attempted to collar a jaguar ten years ago, and 
since then 
have developed rules for collaring captured jaguars.

The rules call for sedation of the animal while in captivity, observation for a 
minimum of 
six hours, and then release back into the wild.

Since jaguar presence became known in border states, the Endangered Species Act 
extended protection to U.S. jaguars in 1997.

It is unknown whether the jaguar is native to Arizona or Mexico, but Johnson 
said the 
collar has a special alert signal if Macho B crosses the border.

The one pound and 12 ounce collar, which was donated by North Star Science and 
Technologies, will provide location points every three hours for the incredibly 
rare feline, 
according to Johnson.

"We have absolutely no firm information on how jaguars use land in the U.S.," 
he said. 
"The collar will help verify or refute all speculations on the jaguar's habits."

Bill Van Pelt, Program Manager at the Arizona Game and Fish Department, said, 
compared 
to a mountain lions, jaguars are more robust, "kind of like a wrestler."

According to Van Pelt, a loose translation of the name jaguar from Native 
American 
dialects is "the predator that kills in one jump."

Historically, jaguar territory extended as far north as the Grand Canyon, Van 
Pelt said. 
They currently live predominantly in Mexico and South and Central America.

Jaguars are the third largest feline in the world, after lions and tigers, and 
the only feline 
on the Western Hemisphere that roars."







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