DOI report says jaguar capture was intentional

Setting snare violated Endangered Species Act

According to an article on the website of the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity (www.biologicaldiversity.org), the Interior Department’s Inspector General office recently released a report concluding that the last known wild jaguar in the United States, dubbed “Macho B,” which was captured and killed last year in Arizona, had been intentionally caught by employees of the Arizona Game and Fish Department in a snare.

"This directly contradicts statements by the department at the time and implies criminal behavior," the article said.  It continues:

"The government’s investigative report also found that the Arizona Game and Fish Department did not have a permit allowing it to purposefully capture a jaguar, which is a federally protected endangered species, nor a permit allowing it to incidentally capture a jaguar while conducting other activities. The state agency had said the jaguar was accidentally caught in a snare set for black bears and mountain lions.

“'This report affirms all of the legal claims in our litigation to prevent Arizona Game and Fish from killing another jaguar, and will be critical evidence at trial,' said Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity, referring to a Sept. 24, 2009 Center lawsuit, yet to be adjudicated, against the department to prevent the state agency from killing any additional jaguars. The Center’s suit cites the death of Macho B.

"The Inspector General report links 'an AZGFD subcontractor and possibly an AZGFD employee to criminal wrongdoing in the capture of Macho B.'

“'This report makes our very strong case even stronger because it confirms the violations,' Robinson said. 'Arizona Game and Fish still maintains that it has the right to capture another jaguar, but the judge will read that the conduct the agency defends has already been found to be illegal.'

"The Inspector General report also contradicts other statements made by the Arizona Game and Fish Department, including that the jaguar sustained no injuries at his first capture on Feb. 18, 2009. The report found that a canine tooth was broken off while the animal was in the snare, not prior to the snaring as the department had claimed.

"Macho B was recaptured on March 2, 2009 in ill health and euthanized. The Inspector General report states that a 'cosmetic' necropsy of the jaguar that was intended to preserve the pelt, undertaken instead of a full necropsy, resulted in loss of information and thus 'leaving doubt as to the cause of death.' It identifies the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Arizona state office field supervisor, Steve Spangle, as having wrongly approved the skinning of the cat because he was unfamiliar with the word 'necropsy,' which means 'autopsy' but generally refers to the postmortem examination of an animal’s body and not a human’s."

Arizona Game and Fish issued the following press release on Jan. 22:

Late yesterday afternoon (Thursday, Jan. 21), the Arizona Game and Fish Department received from the news media a redacted copy of the U.S. Department of Interior Inspector General (IG) report about events related to the jaguar known as Macho B. News stories about the report have appeared in various media outlets.

The Department would note that the document represents a redacted and therefore incomplete version that gives no useful indication of what additional clarity or context the redacted material might add to the public’s understanding of it. Regardless, the Department has the following comment:

The Department stands by its previous statements that the Department did not direct any Department employee or any other person associated with the initial capture to intentionally capture a jaguar. Should the outcome of the ongoing Federal criminal or Department administrative investigations demonstrate that individuals employed by the Department acted contrary to the Department’s understanding of the facts or contrary to Department direction, the Department remains committed to its previous assurance that it will take or pursue appropriate action.

The Department is disappointed that it was at no time contacted during the IG’s investigation or prior to the release of the report. The report provided contains allegations and opinions apparently untested by the IG. Many of those assertions have been previously addressed by the Department and present little or no new information.

The IG notes that the Regional Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service states that the Department’s Director requested an independent investigation into the circumstances of the jaguar’s capture, and ultimate euthanization , shortly after that euthanization. The Department continues to fully cooperate with the ongoing Federal investigation and, acting in cooperation with the Service, has conducted its own extensive internal administrative investigation into the matter. The administrative investigation remains ongoing pending final resolution of the Federal investigation.

The Department notes that the IG apparently ignores the Section 6 authorities conveyed to the state by the Endangered Species Act and further, the IG misunderstands the scope of the Department’s authority under its Section 10(a)(1)(A) permit. The Department disagrees with any assertion in the report that the Department did not have a valid permit.

As noted by the IG, the full necropsy of the jaguar remains incomplete pending the inclusion of the findings of tests done by several other laboratories. The Department awaits the release of those findings by the Service. Once thoroughly reviewed, final conclusions about the jaguar’s physical condition at the time of its recapture can usefully be made.
The Department will continue to cooperate fully with the Federal investigation to its completion.

(Photo by Robin Silver.)