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Wild jaguar makes rare appearance on Arizona wildlife camera

By Ben Hooper
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Sept. 15 (UPI) -- A conservation nonprofit shared wildlife camera footage of a rare wild jaguar found living in the mountains of Arizona.

The Center for Biological Diversity posted a video Thursday to Facebook showing the jaguar, recently dubbed Sombra by students at Paulo Freire Freedom School - University Campus in Tucson, wandering the Chiricahua Mountains.

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The jaguar seen in the footage, recorded by a remote-sensor camera placed by Russ McSpadden, is believed to be the same animal previously photographed by the Bureau of Land Management in the Dos Cabezas Mountains in November 2016.

The center said the camera also recorded footage of other animals sharing Sombra's ecosystem, including a mountain lion, bears, deer and a coati.

"Since 2015, three wild jaguars have been spotted in Arizona: El Jefe, Yo'oko and Sombra," he center said. "Jaguars have always roamed the U.S. Southwest but were nearly driven to extinction in the 20th century. One of the greatest single threats to jaguar recovery in the United States is the proposed expansion of the U.S.-Mexico border wall, which would destroy the big cats' ancient migration paths."

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