Was Last American Jaguar Just Killed?

American Jaguar

Only three jaguars were verified to live within the United States according to the latest scientific research.

One of those three jaguars-a male named Yo’oko was just verified killed by a poacher.

According to an article at LiveScience.com the rosette patterns on a jaguar’s pelt are unique to each individual, a trait that allowed officials with the Arizona Game and Fish Department to identify Yo’oko’s pelt in a photo sent to them from the Tucson-based Northern Jaguar Project.

(Listen to my emergency radio transmission on the last American jaguar at the link below. This is a must listen!)

It’s unclear when Yo’oko died or who killed him, but the Arizona Daily Star reported today (June 28) that he may have been killed by a mountain lion hunter. A local rancher, Carlos Robles Elias, told the Arizona Daily Star that he heard from a friend that the jaguar was trapped and killed six months ago somewhere in Sonora, Mexico, near the U.S. border.

And while this jaguar and two others have been known to move into and out of the United States, no one knows where the other two are and how much time they actually spend on the US side of the border.

Virtually all of the jaguars verified in the United States in the last decade are believed to move in and out of Mexico.

This could literally mean the last jaguar in America is dead.

This particular incident means a lot more than the media is stating which is why I issued an emergency broadcoat of The Wildlife Journalist® radio.

You can click the link above to the listen the podcast and learn exactly how symoblic and tragic this patricular incident is in the realm of the big cat of the Americas. Action needs to be taken and I believe great things can come out of this tragedy if people wake up.

Chester Moore, Jr.