And here she is again ...

And here she is again, "Kitty Carlisle" the Jaguar Formerly Known as UF2, at 11:12 on 03 March 2009 at Ben's camera trap set up at Norman's Temple/Bajo Trail (see also previous two posts). These are much clearer photos than the previous infra-red images which were slightly foggy, due, I imagine, to high humidity. Still, a careful side-by-side spot pattern comparison shows that this is the same jaguar. Her first photos date back to 2004, only a couple hundred yards away from where this March series was recorded.

The interesting thing about these images is the bulge toward the back of her belly. A zoomed-in examination suggests that she is a nursing mother. We were hoping she'd confirm such speculation by bringing the kids along for a photo op. We're still waiting ...

Meet "Kitty Carlisle"

Ben, my partner in crime, or should I say, camera trapping, has come up with a name for UF2. (There she is above, a bit blurred due to motion, but still clearly recognizable, about 3km from the Lodge on 28 May 04). For those of you wondering, UF2 translates to "Unnamed Female 2." I amassed quite a database of jaguar photos several years ago when I was conducting a track study and two jaguar density studies in the Gallon Jug Estate. It is fantastic to recognize some of these same animals still stalking the trails.

While we in science are often chastised for "anthropomorphizing" study animals with names, that never bothered me overmuch. After all, the animal is never going to know and feel insulted or flattered, as the case may be. A name is a nice shorthand method for referring to individuals rather than the ponderous "UF2," which is a sort of name anyway (besides, it always reminded me of unidentified flying objects). Not only that, if naming helps people connect to wildlife and come to care about its conservation, then hey, I'm all for it.

So once I'd gotten more than a couple photos of an individual jaguar -- which implied it was using our area and likely to turn up again -- I invited people who had been helpful to our various conservation projects to Name-the-Cat, as a show of appreciation. Since this isn't a Formal Study we're doing, just sharing and enjoying some of the magnificent wildlife found in the Gallon Jug Estate/Chan Chich Lodge area, I say: let the naming begin.

And, with more photos of UF2 still to be posted, it is clear that she is a regular presence near the Lodge and is thus in need of a better name. Ben suggested it was HIS turn to Name-the-Cat. After some days of thoughtful deliberation, he announced: "I would like to name the jaguar ‘Kitty Carlisle’ or Carlisle for short. It is in memory of the late Uncle Scotty who loved his cats and would be honoured to be named after a jungle pussy cat!"

So there you go. Kitty Carlisle she is.

Home Territory for UF2

Here's a side-by-side comparison of "UF2" from 19 April 2004 with a selection from the recent December 2009 slide series (see previous post). Can you make out the identical pattern? I usually start with a pattern somewhere mid-body that jumps out at me and then look for a match in the comparison picture. The inside left front leg is another place that lends itself to comparison since the stride is similar in this pair of photos.

The April 2004 image was taken at the crossroads of the River Trail and Sylvester Village road very close to Chan Chich creek. I'm not exactly sure where Ben had this camera a couple weeks ago, but it couldn't have been more than a couple hundred yards away. Clearly, the Chan Chich trail system has been part of this female's regular haunts for some years.

Coming up, UF2's photos from earlier in 2009...