Arizona researchers discover new ocelot through trail camera footage

PHOENIX — There’s a new ocelot on the block, according to Arizona researchers.

An ocelot that hasn’t been seen before in the state before was recently captured on field cameras in the Coronado National Forest.

It was the first confirmed sighting of the endangered species in the Atascosa Highlands area of southeastern Arizona in around 50 years. This mountain range in Santa Cruz County is around 5 miles north of the Arizona-Mexico border.

A review team made up of multiple agencies analyzed footage of the cat. One of the agencies that confirmed the finding was the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD).

Tracey McCarthey, a regional specialist with AZGFD, examined the ocelot’s fur, or pelage, to ensure it hadn’t been seen in the state before.

“AZGFD has conducted a pelage spot analysis comparing this ocelot with the current known ocelot in the state, as well as previous ocelots,” McCarthey said in a news release. “This is indeed a new ocelot.”

How did Arizona researchers discover the endangered animal?

The Arizona Center for Nature Conservation, which operates the Phoenix Zoo, said the sighting was made possible through the Atascosa Complex Wildlife Study. Researchers have been monitoring 50 field cameras in the Coronado National Forest’s Nogales Ranger District since April.

The ocelot appeared on one of those cameras, which was placed near desert scrub at a lower elevation than the sites where most ocelots have been recorded in Arizona.

Two researchers discovered the sighting: Kinley Ragan, a field research project manager with the Phoenix Zoo, and volunteer Ali Lofti. The two were in the study area in July to ensure the cameras were working properly.

As they scanned through recorded images, they found the clip of the ocelot.

“This particular location required a 40-minute hike to the site as the temperature was reaching 95 degrees,” Ragan said in the release.

One of the last videos she reviewed included the clip of the ocelot.

“(It) sent full chills through my body at the excitement and pride in what we had recorded,” Ragan said.

How is this ocelot discovery significant?

Finding the ocelot gives researchers hope in the future of the species that has been endangered in the U.S. since 1972.

Only one other ocelot has been consistently recorded by camera footage in the last year. Researchers found the cat in the Huachuca mountain range. That area is around 50 miles away from the site where the latest ocelot was filmed.

Ocelots depend on dense forest and grasslands to live safely. Habitat loss is a major threat to their survival, researchers said.

Scientific projects like the Phoenix Zoo’s Atascosa Complex Wildlife Study can help to protect the ocelot’s natural habitat in the borderlands region.

Researchers and volunteers with the zoo will return to the field this month and in October to retrieve more camera data. They hope to extend the study for another year.