A Macho Murder?

The last known jaguar in the United States was put to sleep a couple months ago after trackers discovered the 13 year old cat was suffering from kidney failure.
Now some experts say that decision may have been too hasty. A necropsy by veterinary pathologists at the University of Arizona, suggested that the animal was not suffering from kidney failure and may have just been dehydrated. Macho B, the oldest known wild jaguar, died within days after being snared, tranquilized and collared.

"If something about the way you capture an animal causes stress, injury, pain or death, you've got to know so that next time you capture one, you don't make the same mistake. I'm sure everyone feels terrible about it, but if we haven't been able to learn from it, that's really bad." said Jessup, who has 30 years of experience with wildlife captures and post mortem examinations.

There are no bad guys to this story, Macho B was extremely sick and treating a wild cat can be dangerous and difficult. "By grabbing the public's attention, Macho B can spread the word about jaguar conservation (in the USA)," said Michael Robinson, a conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. Discovery