Its passage through the heavily guarded border has sparked excitement as it has revived hopes that the endangered felines can cross the wall that divides their natural habitat.
They call him “El Hefe”, is at least 12 years old and his passage through the heavily guarded border USA-Mexico has caused excitement on both sides, according to the AP report. It has been spotted in Mexico’s Sorona state, researchers have confirmed, raising hopes that the endangered felines can get past the border wall that bisects their natural environment.
It was spotted in photos taken in November by a Mexican nonprofit, Profauna, which uses more than 150 motion-sensor cameras to monitor wildlife. Because of the sheer volume of photos, it took investigators until the summer to identify him, according to the Washington Post.
Notably jaguars can be identified by their spots, which serve as a kind of unique fingerprint.
Xefe — “the boss” in Spanish — is one of the few who crossed the border covered by a wall and other infrastructure to stop drug traffickers and immigrants. “It has traveled a long way,” say conservationists at the Borderlands Linkages Initiative.
The rare jaguar’s ability to cross the border suggests that despite the increased barriers, there are still open corridors and if they are kept open “it is possible (to maintain) the jaguar population in the long term,” said Juan Carlos Bravo, director of conservation programs for the Wildlands Network of a from the groups participating in the initiative.
Environmentalists don’t know how many jaguars there are in the Sierra Madre Occidental, but of the 176 tracked over two decades by the Northern Jaguar Project—another group involved in the initiative—only two other than “Chief” are known to have cross the border, Bravo said.
Hefe became famous when he was first photographed in 2011 in the mountains of Tucson, Arizona, by a hunter, Bravo reported. He was about 2 years old and a local school named him after him. Motion-sensing cameras installed in transit areas photographed the jaguar in Arizona again in 2012 and 2015.
“The US-Mexico border impedes the movement of these animals, as well as the American antelope, black bear and Mexican wolf,” said Juan Bravo. “Light towers and roads used by the Border Patrol are also a problem,”
RES-EMP
Read the News today and get the latest news. Follow us on Google News and be the first to learn all the news from Skai.gr.
I have worked in the news industry for over 10 years. I have a vast amount of experience in covering health news. I am also an author at News Bulletin 247. I am highly experienced and knowledgeable in this field. I am a hard worker and always deliver quality work. I am a reliable source of information and always provide accurate information.
