Conservationists in Arizona are excited about a highly rare sighting.
After analyzing the animals spots, researchers confirmed it had never been recorded before.
Ocelots are small neotropical cats, about the size of a bobcat.
The sighting was a result of a wildlife monitoring project run by researchers with the Phoenix Zoo.
The team deployed about 50 cameras in April around the Coronado National Forest near Arizonas border with Mexico.
It wasn’t until a routine change of SD cards and batteries that they checked the footage.
The researchers then saw the cat crossing the frame and standing on a rock for a few seconds.
Are they staying year-round?
Are there others with it?
This is all kind of questions that were really excited to explore.
The Phoenix Zoos Atascosa Complex Wildlife Study recorded a video of a new ocelot in southern Arizona in June.
It is the first confirmed ocelot sighting in the Atascosa Highlands region in at least 50 years.
