Interesting stuff.
Last grizzly in Arizona was killed in 1936. It was killed on Escudilla mountain by a set gun placed in a cow carcass. There are stories of grizzlies seen in the area after that.
There is even a newspaper article on a grizzly killed in Sycamore canyon in 1949. Have no idea if it is true or not. Sounds a bit suspicious.
https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=MT19491101.2.64&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------The above story will certainly be used by this group:
In 2022 the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit in Montana’s U.S. District Court accusing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service of violating the Endangered Species Act by failing to update the federal recovery plan for grizzly bears, which was last revised in 1993. The center says: "Mogollon Rim and Gila Wilderness complex spanning Arizona and New Mexico and the Grand Canyon area have been identified as good grizzly bear habitat"
They are trying the same approach with reintroduction of jaguars. IMO they are claiming the grizzly and jaguar have occupied regions of the state in the past that never had had grizzlies or jaguars.
We could delve into the history of jaguars in Az but that would have to be another thread.
