Dear Friends,

We have good news for you! During March and early April, the female jaguar named “Corazón” appeared at several camera traps on the Northern Jaguar Reserve, mainly in the areas furthest north at Los Pavos. The last time we had a record of this jaguar was in October 2010, so it was many months ago. Also, it is possible to see a hanging belly in the photographs, a typical sign for feline lactating females. That is more good news because it means that Corazón has at least one cub in the area. If all goes well, we expect to see the young jaguar soon.

Remember that Corazón has been photographed at the reserve since 2006, when she was young also. She is the female that has been recorded the longest at the reserve – maybe she is not the oldest female in the area, but we can be certain from the camera trap photographs that she is at least seven years old. She is now residing in the area where she was born. This is an example of the importance of long-term monitoring for jaguar conservation.

On the other hand, we are now in the middle of spring, and hot days are coming to the reserve. This month there was a couple of days just like typical summer days: temperatures above 110ºF, big clouds in the afternoons, and nearby thunderstorms. However, rains have not yet arrived on the reserve and the landscape is so dry, except for riparian areas adjacent to perennial streams or rivers. Despite the dryness and heat, there was a lot of animal activity in this month’s camera review. We were also able to see a variety of animals this time, just to mention a few: bobcat, ring-tailed cat, coati, deer, javelina, many birds, lizards, and iguanas.

That’s all for now, expect more news in the next blog, and enjoy the heat!

– Carmina & Miguel

Our jaguar guardians, Carmina Gutiérrez and Miguel Gómez Ramírez, have worked at the Northern Jaguar Reserve since October 2008. As the reserve’s resident biologists, Carmina and Miguel patrol lands to keep out poachers, sustain ongoing management of the reserve, maintain a network of motion-triggered cameras, and inventory the ecological health of reserve lands and waters.

Photos: Some of the wildlife sightings this month – Ring-tailed cat and hummingbird with prickly pear

By Ray Ring, Tony Davis and Talli Nauman

#6  The more than 50,000-acre Northern Jaguar Reserve is another joint venture of Mexican and U.S. groups, run by Naturalia and the Tucson-based Northern Jaguar Project. They’ve created the reserve by buying four ranches since 2003. It includes deep canyons and a good stretch of Río Aros – habitat for fish and turtles, neotropical river otters, the southernmost-nesting bald eagles in North America, and, of course, jaguars. Remote cameras have documented that up to 12 jaguars live on the reserve – the northernmost breeding population – and it’s a likely source of the jaguars that occasionally wander into Arizona. Because ranchers have been known to kill jaguars to protect their cattle, the Northern Jaguar Project has also installed cameras on nearby ranches, and provided those ranchers with an incentive: Every time a camera photographs a jaguar on a ranch, the group pays the rancher 5,000 pesos. Photos documenting cougars, ocelots and bobcats on the ranches earn smaller payments. Also, with the help of Raul Valdez, an ecology professor at New Mexico State University, in 2003, 11 ranches near the reserve banded together to form an UMA that sells trophy deer hunts; the earnings – more than $20,000 per year – more than compensate for cattle lost to predators. Thus the ranchers have an incentive to maintain deer herds, and the pressure for killing predators has eased, Valdez reports. Defenders of Wildlife’s Tucson office is also involved; as part of a broader jaguar ecological study, Defenders is collaborating with Mexican biologist Carlos López González on a project in which scat-sniffing dogs will course the Sonoran landscape starting as soon as this summer, searching for jaguars and jaguar corridors.

Dear Friends,

Around the middle of the month, there was snow in the high Sierras to the east of the Northern Jaguar Reserve near the Chihuahua border. At the reserve, there was just a light rain, and the ensuing cold, cloudy days were very comfortable for us to check all of our camera traps. We were able to climb to the top of some of the hills between Babisal and Dubaral, and from there, we could see the white, snow-capped mountains in the distance.

We had 28 jaguar pictures in this month’s camera review. Most of these were of “El Inmenso,” although “Ferb” and “Caza” also appeared. Unfortunately, we have not had traces of “Mayo” very recently. It is possible that Mayo was displaced by El Inmenso and Ferb, and is now occupying lands south of the reserve. Ferb and El Inmenso have meanwhile been appearing in the Viviendo con Felinos ranches more frequently. Our colleague Daniela, who is the field technician for the neighboring ranches, recently had photographs of these two male jaguars at Bábaco. The female jaguar Caza is moving a lot through the reserve right now, as we can see in the photo documentation. We hope to soon have enough time to analyze all of this information generated by the motion-triggered cameras, and if you want collaborate with us, we would be very glad.

Finally, there were more people visiting this month. Once again, several volunteers accompanied Rick and Turtle to Babisal de Abajo to continue the construction of cabins and other infrastructure at this site. In one week, they made more than 2,000 adobe bricks that are going to serve to build the cabins and a composting outhouse. We could not help them this time because we were so busy with other work, but hopefully we can participate in the coming months. We have started to utilize the facilities as they are completed, such as the room to sleep in and the new shower!

That is all for now, more news in next blog.

– Carmina & Miguel

Our jaguar guardians, Carmina Gutiérrez and Miguel Gómez Ramírez, have worked at the Northern Jaguar Reserve since October 2008. As the reserve’s resident biologists, Carmina and Miguel patrol lands to keep out poachers, sustain ongoing management of the reserve, maintain a network of motion-triggered cameras, and inventory the ecological health of reserve lands and waters.

Top photo: Snow seen in the distant mountains; below: en route to check cameras at Los Pavos

Hi Friends,

Spring has not yet begun, but many plants are flowering, mainly those relatives to the sunflower family (Asteraceae) and others. Perhaps our favorite flower during this time is the Mexican gold poppy (Eschscholzia californica), which has brilliant yellow-orange petals. It is great to see so many new colors on the reserve when the rest of vegetation is gray or with very few vivid colors. Because of the flowers, there is more pollen, which produces allergies for us – nothing bad, but it is a little irritating. There are two plant species that produce high pollen counts this time of year: “Chicura” and “Chicurilla,” or canyon ragweed and Sonoran bursage – the common local names and English names respectively. Ambrosia ambrosioides and A. cordifolia are the scientific names, and we have noticed a certain sensitivity to them.

There were some rainy and cold days in early February, and we could see that there was snow in the mountains between Sonora and Chihuahua. We know that the hot days of spring and summer are close, so we are really enjoying the cold days. It was possible to hike all day without problems from the heat or with water availability. It was just very comfortable.

We have good news for you this time. In the camera trap review this month, we have 24 jaguar photos; most of pictures correspond to “El Inmenso” and “Ferb” in the area of Dubaral. Also, the female jaguar called “Caza” appeared at both Dubaral and Babisal. There are at least two new individuals in the photos, one female and one male, and they appeared at Dubaral and Babisal too.

One day, we were walking an arroyo at Babisal near Rancho Las Tésotas, called Arroyo Brasilar, and we saw some cat tracks in the soil. They were small tracks, but we thought they looked like a jaguar. When we arrived to check the camera-trap station and saw the photos, what a surprise! We had three jaguar pictures, including just two nights before. The photos and these tracks belong to Caza, so now we can identify the tracks of El Inmenso, Ferb, and Caza.

Well, that is all for now. We are preparing for our next travels to the reserve, and we will share more with you about jaguars really soon.

Best regards,

– Carmina & Miguel

Our jaguar guardians, Carmina Gutiérrez and Miguel Gómez Ramírez, have worked at the Northern Jaguar Reserve since October 2008. As the reserve’s resident biologists, Carmina and Miguel patrol lands to keep out poachers, sustain ongoing management of the reserve, maintain a network of motion-triggered cameras, and inventory the ecological health of reserve lands and waters.

Top photo: Mexican gold poppies; below: “Ferb” at Dubaral, “Caza” at Babisal

Hello,

This month, the weather was cold in the mornings, including frost on the trees and also rain. During my visit to Rancho Los Alisos, I checked in with the sycamores planted last year and the survival rates so far. In regard to the cameras, I put a new one at La Mesa Rica and moved some of the camera sites on the other ranches. This month’s most exciting, and surprising, photo was the jaguar “El Inmenso” at Bábaco in a place called Cienega Canyon.

As for bobcats, we obtained photographs on two ranches, Bábaco and El Puerto. Mountain lions were documented this month at Bábaco, El Puerto, El Sapo, La Mesa Rica, La Tinaja, Las Cuevas, and Los Alisos – seven ranches in all. I was able to travel more extensively to explore possible camera locations on the ranches and discovered many interesting places where perhaps we will see these wild cats in the future.

While making my monthly rounds, I saw a raccoon and a javelina at El Sapo. At Cajón del Mudo, I witnessed two male Elegant trogons flying over the arroyo where we were walking, but unfortunately I was not able to take their photos.

Also this month, we had the annual photo exhibit for the Viviendo con Felinos project in Sahuaripa. Local schoolchildren voted on their favorite images, and the first place went to “La Flaca,” the female jaguar seen at El Sapo in September. Second place went to a mountain lion at El Puerto, and third place also went to La Flaca. The ranchers had a meeting to review the photo results from the past year, and they renewed their commitments to the project and signed agreements for the year ahead.

– Daniela

Daniela Gutiérrez began her position as the Viviendo con Felinos field technician in March 2011. She works with ranchers surrounding the Northern Jaguar Reserve monitoring wildlife, particularly the area’s four large felines, and promoting habitat restoration.

“El Inmenso” at Bábaco, January 2012

Dear Friends,

This month, some wonderful people came to the Northern Jaguar Reserve as volunteers, along with Rick and Turtle, to make adobes – earthen bricks that will be used to construct small cabins at Babisal de Abajo. These cabins and other buildings are going to serve as the beginnings of a field station for future scientists and donor visits. Gradually, we can see the changes in this part of the reserve, and we are confident that with help from so many people interested in supporting conservation, we will see this work finished to enjoy the beauty of another part of the Arroyo Babisal. Unfortunately, we only had one day with the volunteers and could not stay to help make bricks the rest of the time because we had to continue our work with the camera traps. However, we are sure that they were very well taken care of by Rick and Turtle, and we hope they will soon visit us again at the reserve.

About our monthly work, we obtained 20 pictures of jaguars this time, corresponding primarily to “El Inmenso,” “Ferb,” and “Caza.” We are testing a camera model that takes both photos and video, and we now have three very brief jaguar videos! We could see two videos of El Inmenso and one of Ferb walking along the Arroyo Dubaral. It is exciting to feel so close to these amazing animals.

Another interesting thing that happened to us was that for two days, we witnessed male deer fighting near the house at Los Pavos. It is common to see deer walking nearby, but we have never seen anything like this. One afternoon we saw something move on a hill in front of the house, and using the binoculars, we distinguished a couple of female deer running up and down the hill. Two male deer were also in the area, and as we watched, they began to fight! A day later, the same thing happened again.

Well, we say bye for now.

Best regards,

– Carmina & Miguel

Our jaguar guardians, Carmina Gutiérrez and Miguel Gómez Ramírez, have worked at the Northern Jaguar Reserve since October 2008. As the reserve’s resident biologists, Carmina and Miguel patrol lands to keep out poachers, sustain ongoing management of the reserve, maintain a network of motion-triggered cameras, and inventory the ecological health of reserve lands and waters.

Top photo: Suzanne and Miguel making adobes at Babisal de Abajo, photo by Ian Fritz; below: a male deer on the reserve

Hello,

On this past trip, we traveled over a great part of Rancho Los Alisos now that there are nine deer transects set up here. Three of these transects were established in different types of vegetation: oak, mesquite, and riparian. When we were setting up the transects near the Arroyo Las Lajas, we found a cow’s placenta. I had never seen anything like this, but it was probably a normal sight for the vaqueros that were with me. We reviewed the fetus inside and everything appeared to be normal.

One of the deer transects in the oak woodlands was on a hillside, and to our surprise it was one of the places where we found a great number of fecal groups. Another find was an encounter with a Phrynosoma species. When we traveled to Cájon del Mudo, we stopped at the Agua Fría ranch. Upon returning to our truck, we noticed a visitor. It was a sparrow, and it let us take photos of it. On the way to the cameras at Bábaco, we found a red-tailed hawk in one of the trees near the path. When he began to fly away, I noticed something had fallen. We looked around and found rabbit’s feet. We left them hanging from a tree trunk in case he returned.

We were lucky to end the year with photos of the four felines and the four main prey species: a jaguar at Bábaco; several mountain lion photos at Las Sabanillas, El Sapo, Los Alisos, and El Puerto; bobcats at Los Alisos; and ocelots at El Sapo, La Mesa Rica, and Bábaco. I am not sure but don’t think the jaguar has been previously photo-identified; it is definitely a male.

I have also been checking the work that was done on the gabions at La Tinaja, Las Tésotas, and Las Cuevas. The work was done well, but the best ending to the year was clearly the photos of the four felines and the four principal prey. I hope that the coming year will be even better for the surrounding ranches and the Northern Jaguar Reserve. I also hope that you have enjoyed this month’s adventure and that next year brings many excellent photos!

– Daniela

Daniela Gutiérrez began her position as the Viviendo con Felinos field technician in March 2011. She works with ranchers surrounding the Northern Jaguar Reserve monitoring wildlife, particularly the area’s four large felines, and promoting habitat restoration.

Top photo: Horny toad (Phrynosoma sp.) at Los Alisos; below: visit with a sparrow at Agua Fría

Dear Friends,

The rain took us by surprise at the Northern Jaguar Reserve this month, along with the coldness that we felt a little bit more each day. A light but steady drizzle covered the reserve for nearly three days, and Los Pavos was covered in fog, a rare and majestic scene. We do not know exactly how much rain fell, as we were not able to download the information from the weather stations, but we know it had to be a good deal because water began to flow in the arroyos. We have previously talked about these winter rains that occur outside of the monsoon season, locally known as “las equipatas,” and provide a major source of moisture for plants in the area.

In our travels, we found remains of deer and javelina that were probably killed and eaten by mountain lions or jaguars. One of the deer remains was the freshest evidence of predation we have ever seen; we found the four legs, hair, and a bunch of crushed bones, as well as the animal’s stomach contents. Perhaps the chase happened early that morning while we were asleep only a few hundred meters from the place.

This time we had 10 jaguar pictures from the camera traps that we reviewed. Most of the photos are of the jaguar we call “El Inmenso,” who remains the dominant male in the area. There is also a photograph of the jaguar named “Mayo.” Mayo seems to have been in the background and sometimes appears in El Inmenso’s domain. Finally, two pleasant surprises: First, we found a picture of a new jaguar on the reserve. She has previously appeared south of the reserve on two of the neighboring Viviendo con Felinos ranches. The jaguar is called “La Flaca,” although there is nothing weak about her since the photos show she is a strong female. We will talk about the origin of La Flaca’s name and the history behind it soon. The second surprise was a photograph of a jaguar that we now know is a female. This is “Chasah;” you may remember we had pictures of her from January 2010. It is great to know that she is in the area and is a female, and we hope to soon find another mother jaguar with cub.

Finally, we wish you happy holidays and hope all of your goals are met for the coming year. We look forward to continuing to work together with you in the conservation of the jaguar and to bringing you our future adventures at the Northern Jaguar Reserve.

Best wishes,

– Carmina & Miguel

Our jaguar guardians, Carmina Gutiérrez and Miguel Gómez Ramírez, have worked at the Northern Jaguar Reserve since October 2008. As the reserve’s resident biologists, Carmina and Miguel patrol lands to keep out poachers, sustain ongoing management of the reserve, maintain a network of motion-triggered cameras, and inventory the ecological health of reserve lands and waters.

Top photo: The female jaguar “Chasah,” which means “to seek refuge;” bottom: “La Flaca” at Babisal

Hello!

On this trip there were several things to do, such as deer transects, gabion inspections, and, of course, checking and retrieving camera photos on the ranches. Gabriel, the interim supervisor for the Biodiverse Ranches project, went with me as well as a vaquero named Richard. Halfway through the trip, Richard was replaced by our own vaquero Laqui, who accompanied me on the rest of the ranch circuit. As I mentioned, we worked on deer transects at Rancho Los Alisos in three different zones. After that we went to Las Cuevas and finally to La Tinaja, where we checked the cameras and supervised new gabion construction on the ranch.

The first-ever jaguar photographs were taken this month at Rancho El Sapo. These were identified as “La Flaca,” the same jaguar we photographed last month at Bábaco. She was photographed by paired cameras that gave us both left and right side views to help with future identification. A mountain lion was also photographed at the same site.

At Las Sabanillas, there were two mountain lion photographs, and Bábaco had two mountain lions and three bobcats. During our rounds, we found a rattlesnake at El Sapo and another snake at Las Cuevas. One new camera was placed at Las Sabanillas, and at Mesa Rica, the camera was moved to an arroyo that is close to a trail in order to obtain more feline photos – I hope that works.

Something I forgot to mention is that on the way to La Ventana while we were still at Las Cuevas, we found a badger and a skunk walking on the trail. Unfortunately, I was not able to take a photo. There were some javelina at El Sapo that were watching us and then ran away. The moments when we see animals like this make the long days in the field worthwhile.

I hope that you like the photos taken on this trip and that we continue getting feline images in order to give you a picture of the reserve and the ranches and also to show you how things are progressing.

Until next time,

– Daniela

Daniela Gutiérrez began her position as the Viviendo con Felinos field technician in March 2011. She works with ranchers surrounding the Northern Jaguar Reserve monitoring wildlife, particularly the area’s four large felines, and promoting habitat restoration.

Top photo: New gabion at La Tinaja designed to slow water flow; below: “La Flaca” and a mountain lion at El Sapo