An endangered jaguar died after being struck by a vehicle on the Periférico Pablo García y Montilla in Campeche, with the driver fleeing the scene. The incident took place near the town of Lerma, just 10 minutes from the state capital.
The incident occurred on the afternoon of Tuesday, December 16, at kilometer 3 of the Periférico Pablo García y Montilla, near the town of Lerma. Following a report to the emergency line 911 by the Secretariat of Protection and Citizen Security, personnel from the Federal Attorney's Office for Environmental Protection (Profepa) arrived at the scene to verify the event.
The remains of the medium-aged feline were handed over to Campeche's Profepa director, Vicente González, for appropriate procedures. Federal authorities have launched an investigation to ascertain whether the jaguar was owned by someone or roaming freely in search of food and water.
Witnesses who called the authorities voiced fear, noting that such animals rarely appear in populated areas. The town of Lerma, now part of the urban sprawl due to demographic growth, lies just a few kilometers from the accident site. Jaguars' natural habitat is the Calakmul archaeological zone, a biosphere reserve in the southern part of the state, over five hours from the capital.
This event echoes a prior sighting on November 4 in the Los Petenes Biosphere Reserve, where a jaguar approached within 50 meters of people without incident. Local ecoguards captured photos of the encounter, underscoring the uncommon nature of seeing the feline so close to human settlements.