A rare, wild cat was spotted on film in Arizona, marking the first known sighting in the area in 50 years. The ocelot, an endangered animal twice the size of a typical house cat, was seen creeping in front of a field camera in the Atascosa Mountains, pausing and looking right into the camera with shining eyes.
The spot-covered big cat was filmed in June but it was only discovered last month when staff with Phoenix Zoo’s Atascosa Complex Wildlife Study reviewed all its footage. Field research project manager Kinley Ragan recalled that watching the video sent chills through her body, and she couldn’t believe what they had recorded. It was the first sighting of that specific feline, and the “first confirmed ocelot sighting in the Atascosa Highlands region in at least 50 years,” according to the study team.
An Arizona Game and Fish Department Regional Nongame specialist confirmed the finding. Ocelots have been endangered in the US since 1972 and are only intermittently recorded in Arizona, according to zoo officials. Major threats to their survival include habitat fragmentation and loss, with ocelots depending on dense forest and grassland habitats for shelter.
Zoo staff and volunteers will return to the field this month to retrieve additional footage from the spring and summer, and again in October to gather records of fall wildlife movement. The team initially planned to remove the cameras in October, but with this new finding, they hope to extend the study for another full year.
Finding evidence of a new ocelot in southern Arizona reinforces our commitment to collaborative efforts to conserve wildlife and their habitats in the region,” Phoenix Zoo president and CEO Bert Castro said. The discovery underscores the importance of ongoing research and monitoring efforts, highlighting the need for continued conservation work to protect these unique and endangered species.
