Last week I reported that AZ Game and Fish had recently captured, collared and released a jaguar for the first time. At that time, folks were speculating whether the specimen was “Macho B,” a male that had been seen in the area a number of times over the past 13 years. This turns out to be the case.
This evening the Arizona Republic is reporting that “Macho B” was found to be immobile in the field today and upon transport to the Phoenix Zoo was diagnosed with “severe and unrecoverable kidney failure.” He was therefore euthanized.
It is now believed that the 16 year old male was the oldest wild jaguar in the world.
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The federal government has opened a criminal investigation into the capture and death of the last known jaguar in the United States, amid accusations that a biologist working for the state illegally baited a trap to attract the cat.
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One year ago this week Macho B was euthanized. He had been captured in mid-February of 2009, the only known jaguar living inside the United States, but after he was caught and fitted with a radio collar his health quickly deteriorated. When he…
Some suspect that he was initially able to be captured because he was ill and weak. :(
That plus being darted and handled has been known to impair an animal's health. One could speculate that the stress and the drug metabolites were more than his old kidneys could handle.