Video from March 22, 2026, shows Cinco, the fifth-documented jaguar by the University of Arizona Wild Cat Research & Conservation Center, as he wanders in front of one of the monitoring cameras in the Arizona mountains.
Over the last 15 years, five different male jaguars have been reported throughout Arizona’s mountains and wilderness, with the latest detected at least 17 times since November.
The University of Arizona Wild Cat Research & Conservation Center has documented all the sightings since 2011, with some of the jaguars being detected dozens of times on trail and border patrol cameras.
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The Research & Conservation Center has 120 cameras up and running across Arizona at any given time, with a group of 50 “citizen scientists” with extensive training monitoring the cameras and sending their findings to Susan Malusa, the director of University of Arizona Wild Cat Research & Conservation Center.
Susan Malusa in the field at one of the jaguar monitoring sites.
(University of Arizona Wild Cat Research & Conservation Center / FOX Weather)
This long-running project, called the University of Arizona Jaguar and Ocelot Monitoring Project, has the largest dataset of jaguar presence in the U.S., Malusa said.
Their team learns things like, how to identify jaguar scats for crucial research benefits and how to recognize certain jaguars by their rosette or “spot” patterns.
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A look at the landscape on the way to one of the jaguar monitoring sites.
(University of Arizona Wild Cat Research & Conservation Center / FOX Weather)
“Think of it like your fingerprint,” Malusa said when talking about the jaguars’ spots and how to tell them apart. “No two are alike.”
“Cinco”
The most recent jaguar documentation was nicknamed “Cinco” as he is the fifth jaguar recorded by the University of Arizona Wild Cat Research & Conservation Center.
Cinco, a male jaguar, was first detected in 2025.
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“Cinco” the jaguar, photo taken on Feb. 22, 2026.
(University of Arizona Wild Cat Research & Conservation Center / FOX Weather)
Since then, he has been detected more than 17 times across Southern Arizona and the Sky Island mountains.
Cinco’s most recent sighting was documented on Aug. 20 just south of Tucson, in the Sky islands region of Arizona.
Southern Arizona jaguar
Jaguar number four was first documented in 2023, before disappearing from cameras for a year and a half.
In summer 2025, the University of Arizona Jaguar and Ocelot Monitoring Team began recording new detections, and spotted him at least seven times along the Southern Arizona sky island mountains.
Jaguar 4, photo taken in 2025.
(University of Arizona Wild Cat Research & Conservation Center / FOX Weather)
Chiricahua jaguar
The third Arizona jaguar detection happened in late 2016 with at least 50 photo and video detections of the animal.
This male jaguar was nicknamed the Chiricahua jaguar because of his movements throughout the Chiricahua Complex.
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Jaguar 3, photo taken in 2022.
(University of Arizona Wild Cat Research & Conservation Center / FOX Weather)
Huachuca jaguar
In 2016, another male jaguar was documented, this time by a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol camera.
This jaguar was documented along the Huachuca mountain range, and was documented nine times in 2017.
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Jaguar 2, photo taken on March 26, 2017.
(University of Arizona Wild Cat Research & Conservation Center / FOX Weather)
Unfortunately, the University of Arizona Wild Cat Research & Conservation Center said the remains of the Huachuca jaguar were discovered in 2018 in Mexico.
Santa Rita jaguar
The first jaguar, nicknamed the Santa Rita Jaguar, was first documented in 2011 in the Whetstone Mountains by a houndsman.
In 2012, this male jaguar was spotted again, this time in the Santa Rita Mountains by the University of Arizona Jaguar and Ocelot Monitoring Project, about 50 miles north of the U.S./Mexico border.
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Jaguar 1, the Santa Rita jaguar documented on April 10, 2014.
(University of Arizona Wild Cat Research & Conservation Center / FOX Weather)
Scats from the jaguar, along with photo and video detections, helped verify the jaguar’s movements.
Over the course of three years, the Santa Rita jaguar was documented 125 times.
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It’s last-known sighting was in 2022 in Mexico, the University of Arizona Wild Cat Research & Conservation Center said.
Malusa said the University of Arizona Jaguar and Ocelot Monitoring Project continues growing every year, and relies fully on donations and grants to keep themselves running.
So far, only male jaguars have been documented, and Malusa said that’s to be expected as male jaguars disperse before the females.
She said the hope is that eventually they will see a female jaguar on their cameras.
To keep up with the Wild Cat Research & Conservation Center and their jaguar findings, follow their Facebook and Instagram pages.
