On August 31, 1996, Jack L. and Anna Mary Childs saw and photographed a live jaguar in the wild. Although the couple were experienced outdoors people who had often seen mountain lions, a jaguar was almost unheard of. "That changed our lives," says Jack. The Childs live near Amado, Arizona.

Caught in the act: Southwestern wildlife in their natural habitat. Jack and Anna Childs went hunting for the elusive Southwestern jaguar, but what they found was bigger than the rare spotted cat, and even more surprising. Founders of the Borderlands Jaguar Detection Project, the Childs set up "camera traps," or remote-sensor cameras activated by motion and body heat, along the U.S.-Mexico border. They did "catch" the first live, wild jaguar ever photographed this way in the U.S. But their non-invasive, candid cameras also captured fascinating animal behavior across the entire ecosystem. The jaguar, it seems, it a minor figure in a habitat that supports over 20 other large mammals. Black bears, mountain lions, bobcats, javelinas, coyotes, and human beings were also caught in behavior--and misbehavior--characteristic of their species. 72 color photographs.