By Astrid Galvan \/ Associated Press
\nPublished: Wednesday, February 3rd, 2016 at 1:35pm
\nUpdated: Thursday, February 4th, 2016 at 12:10am<\/p>\n
TUCSON \u00e2\u20ac\u201d The only known wild jaguar in the United States is seen roaming around a creek and other parts of a mountain range in southern Arizona in the first publicly released video of the giant cat.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153El Jefe\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Spanish for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the boss\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201d has been living in the Santa Rita Mountains about 25 miles south of downtown Tucson for over three years, according to the Center for Biological Diversity.<\/p>\n
El Jefe is about 7 years old and is one of only four or five jaguars that have been spotted in the U.S. in the last 20 years. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the only documented wild jaguar in the country.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153A lot of people have no idea that we have jaguars in the United States or that they belong here,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Randy Serraglio of the Tucson-based environmental group. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153In bringing this video, we hope to inspire people to care about these animals and support protection for their homes.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Conservationists say El Jefe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s habitat is threatened by a proposed open-pit copper mine in the mountains. The proposed Rosemont Mine has been in the works for several years but is tied up in the permitting phase.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Astrid Galvan \/ Associated Press Published: Wednesday, February 3rd, 2016 at 1:35pm Updated: Thursday, February 4th, 2016 at 12:10am TUCSON \u00e2\u20ac\u201d The only known wild jaguar in the United States is seen roaming around a creek and other parts of a mountain range in southern Arizona in the first publicly released video of the … Continue reading Video shows only known U.S. jaguar roaming Arizona mountains threatened by open pit mine<\/span>