Tucson, Ariz. • A nonprofit devoted to protecting jaguars believes one that was spotted in Arizona mountains in recent years has since died.
Tucson-based Northern Jaguar Project obtained a photo of a jaguar pelt and provided it to the Arizona Daily Star, the newspaper reported.
"We’re very upset that somebody killed that jaguar. I just can’t believe that. It’s really sad for us,” Carmina Gutierrez Gonzalez said, a biologist with the group.
Several Arizona Game and Fish Department officials, including assistant wildlife management director Jim deVos, believe it is the same animal based on spot patterns.