New ocelot discovered in Southern Arizona

Scientists from the Phoenix Zoo recorded footage of a new ocelot in Southern Arizona last June. The ocelot was caught on field cameras deployed in the Coronado National Forest’s Nogales Ranger District placed by the Zoo’s Atascosa Complex Wildlife Study in April.

A multi-agency review team concluded this cat is in fact a new cat not previously seen in Arizona. It is the first confirmed ocelot sighting in the Atascosa Highlands region in at least 50 years.

Kinley Ragan, a field research project manager for the Arizona Center for Nature Conservation at the Phoenix Zoo, joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss the new sighting and what it means for the endangered species.

“Most people get them confused with a jaguar because it has a spotted pattern similar to a jaguar,” Ragan said. “An ocelot is quite considerably smaller than a jaguar, and they’re important for our ecosystem.”

Ocelots are historically rare in Arizona. Ocelots are mostly associated with Central America and South America.

There are only two known ocelots in the state, including the one caught on camera. The species is also endangered in Sonora, Mexico, as well.

“It was largely due to human influences as to why we lost ocelots in this region,” Ragan said. “But now they’re facing a lot of other factors as well. We’ve got climate change, changing habitats and more human influences. So there is a lot they have to work against to revive the population.”