A rare jaguar roams Arizona. Border wall expansion imperils its future.

A rare sightwas captured by a night vision trail camera in July: a grown jaguar, roaming through southern Arizona. Researchers at the University of...

A rare sight was captured by a night-vision trail camera in July: a grown jaguar, roaming through southern Arizona.

Researchers at the University of Arizona’s Wild Cat Research and Conservation Center call him Jaguar Number Four, a big cat that roamed across the United States-Mexico border through the San Rafael wildlife corridor. As of July 4, the same cat has been detected five times by cameras placed south of Tucson, said Susan Malusa, director of the Wild Cat Center.

The sightings excited the Wild Cat Center’s team, as it showed the wildlife corridor had not yet been interrupted by the southern border wall, which partially bisects the sprawling grasslands and woodlands that ocelots, mountain lions, bobcats and, yes, even jaguars, traverse.

However, the researchers’ fears have not completely abated, as construction on a 27 mile segment of the wall is estimated to begin in late August under the Trump administration’s efforts to crack down on migrant crossings.

Jaguar Number Four is photographed July 1 in a forested area near southern Arizona. Photo credit: University of Arizona’s Wild Cat Research and Conservation Center