Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Arrogant Biologist kills worlds oldest Jaguar

This happened some time back and it's sickening to see this happen.

Another arrogant biologist who thinks he knows more than anybody else from his text book training. These are the same clueless types who bring us the woof.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/artic...ona-man-guilty-jaguar-macho-b-death.html

This particular quote is really confusing. If the dude tried to "intentionally capture a jaguar", how does his confession support Arizona's claim that "agency personnel did not set out with intention to capture a jaguar"? I guess "agency personel" was his team, not McCain.

Maybe I just have drank too much to understand. That is a very real possibility.

It comes down to poor judgment by the biologist. The jaguar did not need to be euthanized. It should still be living today.

In my experience with biologists, some are really knowledgeable, and others I wonder if they got their degree from some fake university on the internet.

I understand what you are saying, and the point of your post. I just didn't understand that quote. It would be nice to know why he euthanized it, and why his team let it happen.

Maybe they didn't know?

Did McCain have authorization if he thought it was best for the cat? Apparently it was 100 years old in people years. More info is needed before conclusions can be drawn. It does sound like McCain was in the wrong on the surface though.

Yeah, that pretty much says it.

With all the ifs in his lawyers explanation I can't help but think IF he had left the durn cat alone it would probably have been alive.

BCR

I don't understand why you decided that Emil McCain is "arrogant". I have known Emil for almost ten years and can guarantee that if you spent any time with him, you would realize that he is anything but arrogant. He certainly made some errors in judgement in his eagerness to get a tracking collar on a jaguar in the U.S., but he was not incompetent.

As a new graduate student, he was given a box of immobilizing drugs, some snares and a few radio collars and was sent to northern Mexico to study jaguars. He received no useful instructions from his thesis advisor, but with the help of a local trapper, learned to snare, immobilize and radio collar jaguars.

After completing his M.S., he came to Arizona to help Jack Childs organize and implement the Northern Jaguar Detection Project, taking on most of the grunt work in the field for a pitiful salary. He was working as a volunteer with AZ DGF's team when Macho B was snared.

The errors in judgement were two. First, he should not have worked with two other volunteers to obtain scats of female jaguars in heat and include them in the scent stations being used to snare mountain lions. Second, protocols that were developed to deal with an accidental capture required a capture team which included a wildlife veterinarian to be present when the animal was immobilized and collared. A veterinarian was not available on the day the jaguar was captured, so the animal should have been released without being immobilized and collared.

Emil had nothing to do with the decision to euthanize the animal once it was recaptured--that decision was made by veterinarians at the Phoenix Zoo. Even that decision was controversial as a veterinarian at the University of Arizona (who had not been a part of the necropsy team) alleged that the necropsy results did not support a diagnosis of kidney failure.

Emil's attorney made an important point that everyone conveniently ignored in their "hindsight is always 100 percent" commentary. An 18 year-old jaguar that weighed less than 120 lbs. was not a healthy animal. Any adult male that weighs much less than 200 lbs. is nutritionally stressed and/or suffering from illness. The team that captured the animal had no way of knowing its age. That was determined during the necropsy investigations.

Wildlife biologists are human and they make mistakes, just like people in every profession, even doctors and lawyers. They are underpaid and could make much more money in just about any other profession with the same amount of education that is required to get a wildlife job. They do it because they think that what they do is important.

I have been a working biologist, I have conducted and supervised wildlife research, and have managed large ranches in three states for owners who value wildlife and wildlife habitat. In all those capacities I have worked with state, federal and private consulting wildlife biologists who were dedicated and capable.

I have no respect for someone who reads a newspaper account and decides that a wildlife biologist is "arrogant" or incompetent.

Here is a timeline of the events associated with the capture, collaring, recapture and euthanization of the jaguar taken from the Arizona Game and Fish Department web site:

Timeline of Macho B Events

Feb. 18, 2009 � On National Forest lands southwest of Tucson, a jaguar is inadvertently captured during the course of a black bear and mountain lion study. Biologists take the opportunity to fit the animal with a lightweight tracking collar to learn more about the species before releasing it at the capture site.

Feb. 19, 2009 � Through analysis of the jaguar�s spots, it is determined that the animal is Macho B, a male cat that had been photographed by trail cameras periodically over the past 13 years. Macho B was believed to be the oldest known jaguar in the wild at 15-16 years old.

Feb. 24, 2009 � Initial data from the tracking collar shows that the jaguar moved more than three miles from the capture site and was foraging and moving well throughout the habitat.

February 28, 2009 � Updated tracking data indicates a change in the jaguar�s movement, so at midday a field team comprised of biologists deploys to visually assess the animal in the field and to try to locate any kills it might have made (javelina are common in that area). Tracking-collar data are extremely limited because the area is so rugged that the tracking collar signal cannot reach the satellite network. The Team is unable to locate the jaguar or a kill.

March 1, 2009 � Tracking-collar information is still limited due to signal blockage. But, the field team, which now includes a veterinarian, gets a visual on Macho B. The cat�s condition seems to be deteriorating, so the team hikes out far enough for their satellite phone to work. They talk with Arizona Game and Fish Department contacts in Phoenix, who coordinate planning efforts for re-capture the next day and on-site veterinary assessment of the cat�s condition.

March 2, 2009 � Through assistance from tracking hounds, the field team locates Macho B, anesthetizes him with a dart, diagnoses probable renal failure, and transports him to The Phoenix Zoo for further veterinary assessment.

Within 3.5 hours of recapture, expert veterinarians at The Phoenix Zoo conduct physical exams and blood tests that reveal Macho B is suffering from severe and unrecoverable kidney failure.

Acting on recommendations from the veterinarians, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Arizona Game and Fish Department authorize that the animal be euthanized and that a necropsy be conducted to determine as much as possible about what might have contributed to the terminal kidney failure.

Mudhen,

thank you very much for the first hand info, your level approach and setting things into perspective.

Knowing the people usually does that.

So here, from the top of my head - 24 hour campfire posters with academic wildlife background:

Mudhen
458 Win.
NathanL
Houndgirl
cmg

I am sure there are more and no slight intended.
Perhaps this little list helps the perception of posters here over a certain them/us - feeling.

Didn't know you had a wildlife background also. Might throw alpinecrick and myself into the list there. Not sure who else off hand. I'm not sure of 1Minute's wildlife background, but he seems to have some sort of connection to academic research.
And I don't have any personal knowledge of this jaguar case. Knew a grad student that got mauled by one that he trapped in Mexico. Does that count?
If you want to read some really ignorant stuff, read the comments below the article in the link.

Mudhen,

Tell us this, was the Jaguar emmaciated when he was first captured on Feb 18th?

According to your own timeline, either the cat was considered healthy enough to be collared when captured, then lost an amazing amount of weight in approx. 12 days...(euthanized March 2nd)

or

He had serious health problems at the time he was captured and, was illegally collared in spite of this..
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The 2nd is much more plausible, therefore, he was charged.

With no authorization to conduct research on a protected species, the cat should have been released.

It's quite possible the unauthorized actions of your friend and his colleages contributed to the jaguar's death.

Arrogant doesn't seem to be too far off, maybe foolish would be a better word. It appears this Biologist saw an opportunity to make a name for himself.

In his mind, this opportunity obviously outweighed the fact that it was illegal and the fact he was using an older animal that was in poor condition.

Mudhen,

Thanks for some unknown background info.

Misjudgment or not, it seems like this guy was given the short end. He would have probably been given a letter of recommendation if the cat had not apparently already been sick or weak from what just may be old age. Sounds like it may not have been around much longer one way or the other. But, what the heck if something out the ordinary happens, someone has to pay and it looks like he took the fall. The relatively minor penalty for the death of an endangered species seems to point in that direction.

I'm willing to guess that most days a vet who was was supposed to be with the team was nowhere to be found.

Then again, jumping to conclusions seem to be a campfire trait and perhaps I'm guilty also.

No misjudgement Battue. Illegal. Look at my post. Do you think the phuggin cat was healthy when it was collared? I don't think any reasonable person could assume that.

To believe it was, is to believe it managed to lose 80 or so pounds in 12 days. That's pretty unlikely. Even if his weight was reduced to 150 lbs. because of age, do you think it possible he lost over 30 lbs in 12 days?

I think this cat's condition was probably known and it was used anyway.

That is all in the unkown background info posted by Mudhen you appreciate so much, but fail to understand..

Connect the dots people. Egos' [bleep] alot of stuff up.

Mudhen, respect me or not, I'm happy to see you clear the record of a perception given. I stand corrected.

I called him arrogant because of what I read. Because he was the supposedly decision maker in all of this. Because many, not all, game biologist come across as
"hey I've got a degree and I know it all".

Bottom line though, this whole thing is an incompetent fubar by "educated" people.

None of us know the health of the cat when it was collared. I do know that when the kidneys fail you can lose weight at an alarming rate. Seen it happen. The bones even are sucked dry and become hollow tubes rather quickly.

Misdemeanor federal charge and 5 years probation for the death of an endangered species. Read between the phuggen lines.

those vets, they're a pretty flakey lot....


Renal failure is the most common cause of (not traumatic) death in most cat species that are lucky enough become old.

I know I read somewhere what drugs were used, but the reality is that (without IV fluids) any anesthetic is going to drop renal blood flow 15-20%. With healthy kidneys and a short anesthetic period, no biggie. In an old cat, it is often just enough to tip them over the edge.

This cat was likely in or near renal failure at the time of capture and would have likely died in 6 months even without capture. IMO, the anesthetic just sped things up.

Poor judgment? yes. Killed an otherwise healthy cat? no.

That's the problem with you. You read between the phuggin lines instead of what's in front of your face on the page.

I think the sentence was just.

Just sayin...

Utahlefty,

Not meant to be a judgment on vets or their dedication, although I see how a vet could take it that way. What I meant to imply is that the life of a government vet is busy enough without having the luxury of being outdoors on a daily basis with a research team. Didn't convey it all that well.

JM:

After 66years, I have a fairly good handle on my problems, but thanks for the additional insight.

I'm in....USDA APHIS Wildlife Services.(WS Specialist)

Just yankin' your chain. (grin)

I've been the "CYA vet" on numerous elk, moose, and sheep captures over the years.

I've not seen a "govt vet" at these digs. Around here, it's mostly pro-bono volunteerism of a private vet that's willing to get some exercise. The indian reservations tend to have their own vet on site when they're receiving the captures but I suspect he's not full time employed either.