TUCSON, Ariz., Feb. 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- A trail camera video of America's only known wild jaguar is attracting widespread media and focusing attention on the direct threat to the survival of this endangered predator by the proposed Rosemont Copper Mine.
The video clips taken by the Center for Biological Diversity and Conservation CATalyst show the jaguar prowling through mountain woodlands and desert streams that would be impacted by the proposed mile-wide, half-mile deep copper mine that will dump hundreds of millions of tons of potentially toxic mine waste on the Coronado National Forest.
Toronto-based Hudbay Minerals Inc. is seeking state and federal permits to construct the open-pit mine in the Santa Rita Mountains on the Coronado National Forest southeast of Tucson. The proposed mine would destroy more than 3,000 acres of national forest, obliterate miles of rare desert waterways that support a dozen threatened and endangered species including the jaguar and threatens the water supply for the fragile Las Cienegas National Conservation Area.
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is preparing a biological opinion on the mine's impact on endangered species, including the jaguar. If FWS determines the mine project may adversely impact an endangered species, but not jeopardize its continued existence, the FWS may allow the "incidental take" of an endangered species that could result in the death of the jaguar known as El Jefe.
"The proposed Rosemont Mine poses a direct threat to the life of the jaguar and will have a devastating impact on the migration of future jaguars into the United States from Mexico by destroying a primary wildlife corridor provided by the Santa Rita Mountains," says Gayle Hartmann, president of Save the Scenic Santa Ritas.
The release of jaguar video comes just weeks after InvestigativeMEDIA released the documentary "Flin Flon Flim Flam" on the worldwide operations of Hudbay Minerals.
The online documentary exposes Hudbay's history of operating Canada's most polluting copper smelter, the company's alleged atrocities in Guatemala where it stands accused in a Toronto civil trial of murder, gang rapes and a shooting that left a man paralyzed, as well as the company's conflicts with indigenous people in Peru.
For more information on the proposed mine go to Rosemontminetruth.com. To send a letter to the FWS requesting the agency to protect the jaguar and other endangered species by stopping the proposed mine go the Center for Biological Diversity's petition.
Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160205/330363
SOURCE Save the Scenic Santa Ritas
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