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Across the world, efforts to reintroduce imperiled animals to their natural habitats have gained momentum, but in the Madrean Sky Islands of Arizona, jaguars are doing it on their own.

Less than a month ago, Chris Schnaufer, a citizen scientist volunteer with the University of Arizona Wild Cat Research and Conservation Center, and another volunteer, were checking one of their remote trail cameras. Schnaufer, a long-distance hiker, often got the center’s toughest assignments, and both men were tired when they reached the mountain camera site. They replaced batteries and collected the SD card and hiked back to the trailhead. That night, at home, Schnaufer scrolled through the images of deer, bear, bobcats, mountain lions, foxes, owls, skunks, and a coatimundi. And then, there it was, in the semidarkness of early morning, the striking image of a jaguar drinking from a waterhole. The photos showed its muscular shoulder and its distinctive inky-black rosettes.