Newest jaguar spotted in Arizona is named O’odham

As part of a months-long process, nearly a thousand students, elders and other tribal members voted for one of 10 possible names for the endangered spotted cat, which was first documented last year in the Huachuca and Whetstone Mountains near southeast of Tucson.

The winning name, revealed Thursday, is O:ṣhad Ñu:kudam, which means “jaguar protector” in the O’odham language.

It is pronounced OH-sjahd NOO-KOO-dum, but you can also call the cat simply OH-sjahd.

“The return of jaguars to our land is a source of tremendous pride and deep hope,” said Austin Nunez, chairman of the tribe’s San Xavier District, in a written statement.

“Since time immemorial, the Tohono O’odham have shared our homeland with the jaguar. We are committed to working towards a safe and prosperous future for O:ṣhad and hope to one day see the return of a breeding population of jaguars to this region.”

Experts believe the new jaguar is a young male born in northern Mexico that entered Arizona in early 2023.

Since then, advocates say, the cat has turned up more than a dozen times — most recently in February — on remote cameras used in the Huachucas and the Whetstones by researchers, conservationists, hunters, hobbyists and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

It is the eighth individual jaguar documented in Arizona and New Mexico since 1996. Four of these cats have been spotted in the past nine years and given nicknames: El Jefe, Yo’oko Nahsuareo (Yaqui for Jaguar Warrior), Sombra and now O: ṣhad Ñu:kudam.

Of course, some people had already called the newest jaguar something else: Cochise, a nickname given to it months ago by Jason Miller, the Vail wildlife videographer who first released footage of the cat in January.

Since there are no official rules for naming individual jaguars and no designated group responsible for the practice, this cat’s final name will be determined by public opinion.

The process of selecting an O’odham name began with nominations from tribal school students and community members. Their suggestions were translated into O’odham and narrowed down to the final list of ten by tribal elders.

Before the finalists were voted on, Elizabeth Ortega, a culture and language teacher at the San Xavier Education Center, ensured the correct spelling of each name.

Cedric Lewis, a 12th grader at Tohono O’odham High School, said he was honored to join his community in voting on the jaguar’s name.

“Using our language to describe such a special animal shows respect for the Tohono O’odham’s traditional knowledge and connection to the land and its animals,” said Lewis.

The naming campaign was led by Tohono O’odham leaders, tribal school officials and two Tucson-based conservation groups that advocate for the protection of jaguars: the Center for Biological Diversity and Conservation CATalyst.

Environmentalists say naming individual members of an endangered species can be a powerful conservation tool because it helps the public relate to and support the animals.

“Naming O:shad continues Tohono O’odham’s deep history of regional land management, for which we are deeply grateful,” said Russ McSpadden, southwest conservation advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity. “These mighty cats once roamed all the way north to the Grand Canyon. They are vital to the region’s web of life and they keep coming back because they belong here. O:shad’s story should inspire us to restore a thriving population of jaguars to their native habitat.”