Rare Jaguar Sighting Caught on Tape in Oaxaca, Mexico

Huatulco Video turístico from Rodrigo Villa Avendaño on Vimeo.

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Rare Jaguar Sighting Caught on Tape in Oaxaca, Mexico

By John Ganjei for Mexico Today

Mexican authorities are reporting that a jaguar 
has been spotted for the first time near Mitla, 
24 miles from the southern Oaxaca state 
capital, Oaxaca City. Mexico’s National 
Commission for Protected Areas says the 
jaguar is the first one confirmed to exist in 
the area and likely migrated from 
Oaxaca’s Sierra Juarez mountain range.

The jaguar was detected by remote cameras 
attached to trees and other vegetation used 
by conservationists to observe the movement of animals at night. The camera also captured a 
puma and a white-tailed deer. 

Israel Juarez Hernandez, the Secretary of the Commission for Communal Property, said that the 
sighting of jaguars and white-tailed deer was extremely rare, and surprised even long-term 
residents of the area.

"There were rumors and talk that there were pumas, but the fact that this jaguar was spotted 
here in our mountains is very rare, like the white-tailed deer. I have not seen one myself, but it's 
been proven that the white-tailed deer has existed here near our community," he said.

For many cultures, Jaguars are an important symbol of pre-Columbian mythology. As the jaguar is 
quite at home in the nighttime, the jaguar is believed to be part of the underworld. One such god is 
Xbalanque, one of the Maya Hero Twins who descended to the underworld, and whose entire 
body is covered with patches of jaguar skin. Another is God L, who is "the primary lord of the 
underworld" and often is shown with a jaguar ear or jaguar attire, and atop a jaguar throne.