Most people associate jaguars with the rainforests of Central and South America. The image of a powerful spotted cat stalking through a tropical jungle seems a world away from the cactus-covered landscapes of Arizona.

But for thousands of years, jaguars were a native part of Arizona's wildlife.

In fact, the largest cat in the Americas once roamed across much of the Southwest, including parts of southern Arizona, long before statehood, highways, or even the arrival of European settlers.

Historically, jaguars ranged far beyond the Amazon rainforest.

Their territory stretched north through Mexico and into what are now Arizona, New Mexico, and even parts of Texas.

Early explorers, ranchers, and settlers recorded numerous jaguar sightings throughout southern Arizona during the 1800s and early 1900s. The cats were most commonly found in rugged mountain ranges that offered cover, water, and prey.

Areas where jaguars were known to occur included:

These remote landscapes, often called "Sky Islands," rise dramatically above the surrounding desert and create pockets of cooler habitat that support an incredible diversity of wildlife.

Like many large predators across North America, jaguars faced intense pressure as settlement expanded.

During the late 1800s and early 1900s, ranching became widespread across Arizona. Predators were often viewed as threats to livestock, and government-sponsored predator control programs targeted wolves, mountain lions, bears, and jaguars.

At the same time, roads, mining activity, and development fragmented habitat.

By the mid-20th century, jaguars had essentially disappeared from Arizona. The last known female jaguar in the United States is believed to have been killed in Arizona in the 1960s, ending any known breeding population north of the border.

For decades afterward, many people assumed jaguars were gone from the United States forever.

In 1996, a rancher and mountain lion hunter photographed a wild jaguar in southern Arizona.

The sighting shocked wildlife biologists.

Not only was the animal alive, but it proved jaguars were still occasionally crossing into Arizona from breeding populations in northern Mexico.

Since then, motion-activated cameras have documented several male jaguars wandering through southern Arizona.

Perhaps the most famous was a jaguar nicknamed "El Jefe," Spanish for "The Boss."

In 2011, researchers captured photographs of a young male jaguar in the Santa Rita Mountains south of Tucson.

Over the following years, El Jefe became one of the most photographed wild jaguars ever documented in the United States.

The stunning images and videos captured public attention nationwide.

For many Arizonans, it was the first time they realized jaguars were actually native to the state.

El Jefe appeared healthy and comfortable in Arizona's rugged mountain terrain, demonstrating that suitable habitat still exists in parts of the state.

Eventually, the famous cat disappeared from camera traps and is believed to have returned to Mexico or moved into another remote area.

That remains one of the biggest questions facing wildlife managers.

Today, Arizona does not have a known breeding population of jaguars. The individuals documented in recent decades have all been males traveling north from Mexico.

For a permanent population to become established, female jaguars would also need to expand northward.

Wildlife biologists continue to monitor habitat corridors that connect Arizona's Sky Island mountain ranges with jaguar populations in Mexico. These corridors allow animals to move across the landscape in search of food, mates, and territory.

While a breeding population remains unlikely in the near future, the possibility is no longer considered impossible.

Arizona is home to an impressive variety of wildlife, from bighorn sheep and black bears to mountain lions and coatimundis. Yet few animals capture the imagination quite like the jaguar.

The idea that a 200-pound spotted cat once walked the same mountains where Arizonans hike today is a reminder of how wild the Southwest once was.

And every time a trail camera captures a new image of a jaguar near the Arizona border, it offers a glimpse into a chapter of Arizona history that many people never knew existed.

The next time you're exploring the mountains of southern Arizona, remember: you're walking through country that once belonged to America's largest native cat.

Some of the images you see in the newsletter are created using modern AI image tools. Whenever possible, I use my own photos from around Sun City and the West Valley, but sometimes it is helpful to generate an image that better illustrates a story or historical topic. These images are used simply to supplement the articles and help tell the story visually, not to mislead or deceive readers.