Arizonan Jaguar

Arizonan Jaguar
アリゾナジャガー
Character Data
AKA		American jaguar, North American jaguar, Central American jaguar
Romaji		Arizona jagā
Debut		Kemono Friends (2015 Game)
Animal Data
Scientific Name		Panthera onca arizonensis
Distribution		?
Diet		Carnivore
Avg. Lifespan		?
Read More		North American jaguar
Conservation

Arizonan Jaguar

KF3

Nexon Game

Stage Play

The Arizonan Jaguar is a type of feline Friend that first appeared in the original Kemono Friends mobile game.

Appearance

Arizonan Jaguar has a very shy and secluded appearance, resembling a more melancholy version of Jaguar, sharing very similar hair, ears, tail, gloves and thighhighs with Jaguar patterns. She has gradient eye color fading from pale green to tan-denim. Her eyes lack any highlight, a trait common among Extinct Friends (Arizonan Jaguars were thought to be locally extinct in 1960s until decades later more jaguars have been sighted. The design is probably based on the outdated source.). Arizonan Jaguar differs from Jaguar's by having dark suspenders and a fluffy spotless scarf. She has some additional and curious design choices compared to her S. American counterparts, such as a dull blue sleeveless shirt with a tie of the same color, and a chrome-plated bumper-like belt around her waist where the suspenders are fastened to. There is also a rose-colored "car plate" with "JPA 244" printed on it at the back of her waist.

Series Appearances

Appearances In Kemono Friends Media

Media		Role
2015	Nexon Game	↪ Minor character, playable
2018	=LOVE Stage Project "Kemono Friends"	↪ Minor character
2019	Kemono Friends 3	↪ Minor character, playable

In Real Life

Due to historical efforts by the U.S. government to extirpate large predators, as compounded by contemporary efforts to control movement of people across the U.S.-Mexico border, the jaguar—which used to be a common sight in the Southwestern United States, roaming the land from California to Arizona—has nearly vanished from the United States, though a small number of jaguars still roam wild. These specimens form a population which may variously be known as Arizona jaguars, North American jaguars, Central American jaguars, or simply American jaguars. The status of these animals as a distinct subspecies of jaguar is contested; while various experts have found that there is not sufficient genetic differentiation for these jaguars to be considered a unique subspecies, sources such as the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service nonetheless make reference to Panthera onca arizonensis.

A photo of El Jefe, a famous jaguar that found his way into Arizona in 2011; the above photo is circa 2013.

When the jaguars were still more present in the region, American hunters took jaguars as prized hunting targets, and would have been encouraged to do so by the American government. Only in 1969 would the continued hunting of these cats be declared illegal by institutions such as the Arizona Game and Fish Commission. Recovery efforts have waxed and waned over the years, with groups such as the Center for Biological Diversity making the jaguars federally protected before their removal in 2008; protections would be reinstated in 2010.

Given their rarity, sightings of jaguars in America have been carefully noted by scientists.

• A male jaguar dubbed "Macho B" was known by locals in southwestern Arizona as a resident jaguar through the early 2000s. He passed away in March 2009 at the age of around 15—at the time, he was the oldest jaguar ever documented.
• In 2011, a jaguar dubbed "El Jefe", aka. the Santa Ritas jaguar, was spotted in the Whetstone Mountains of Arizona. He would go on to be repeatedly photographed in the state's Santa Rita Mountains over the next several years.
• In 2016 (Dec 1st), a different male jaguar was observed around Fort Huachaca, AZ.
• In February 2017, a third individual was reported to have been seen in the "Dos Cabezas Mountains."

The propensity of jaguars sighted in America to be male raises concerns about the viability of breeding populations north of the Mexican border; there are known breeding sites in Mexico proper, and specimens such as the aforementioned El Jefe are known to have moved between countries. While nearly 300 miles of fencing lines the U.S.-Mexico land border, numerous holes along the barrier make it possible for such jaguars to pass through.

Trivia

• Arizonan Jaguar's car-themed accessories and steel-blue clothes may be meant to evoke the design of the Jaguar E-Type, a British sports car which was marketed to North America by Jaguar Cars Ltd in the 1960s and 1970s which notably could be found in a steel-blue paint job. It may also seek to generally make reference to the Jaguar line of cars.