It is with a heavy heart that I write this blog post today to share some heartbreaking news. Yo’oko, the majestic jaguar seen roaming the Huachuca Mountains in recent years, has been killed.
This is a profound loss for our Arizona Sky Islands and for endangered northern jaguars that are attempting to make a recovery on both sides of the border.
Yo’oko, the Yaqui word for jaguar, was the name chosen for this jaguar by Hiaki High School students. Photo credit: Arizona Game and Fish Dept
The loss of Yo’oko underscores the pressure of poaching on jaguars and the need for us to provide them with thriving habitat and safe pathways in the Sky Islands. Sky Island Alliance is working to protect the Path of the Jaguar by working to engage local communities in Sonora to monitor wildlife and increase predator tolerance, to keep crossborder pathways free of border infrastructure and open for wildlife, and to protect the connected open space in the U.S. Sky Islands that jaguars need to recover and thrive.
But we need to do more. We need to reach more individual landowners, better engage communities, and redouble efforts to build conservation solutions that secure safe space for jaguars to roam.
You can join us in protecting the Path of the Jaguar today.
Help Sky Island Alliance increase community engagement, expand on-the-ground monitoring of wildlife corridors by local residents, and raise the profile of the Path of the Jaguar.
Invite a friend to join our email list.
You can read more about Yo’oko’s tragic death and other organizations working to protect jaguars in the Arizona Daily Star.