https://abcnews.go.com/US/wire...s-southwest-77722233



Groups call for reintroduction of jaguars in US Southwest Environmental groups and scientists with two universities want U.S. wildlife managers to consider reintroducing jaguars to the American Southwest

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press
May 16, 2021, 2:25 PM
• 4 min read


The Associated Press


In a recently published paper, they say habitat destruction, highways and existing segments of the border wall mean that natural reestablishment of the large cats north of the U.S.-Mexico boundary would be unlikely over the next century without human intervention.



Jaguars are currently found in 19 countries, but biologists have said the animals have lost more than half of their historic range from South and Central America into the southwestern United States largely due to hunting and habitat loss.

Several individual male jaguars have been spotted in Arizona and New Mexico over the last two decades but there’s no evidence of breeding pairs establishing territories beyond northern Mexico. Most recently, a male jaguar was spotted just south of the border and another was seen in Arizona in January.

Scientists and experts with the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Center for Landscape Conservation, Defenders of Wildlife, the Center for Biological Diversity and other organizations are pointing to more than 31,800 square miles (82,400 square kilometers) of suitable habitat in the mountains of central Arizona and New Mexico that could potentially support anywhere from 90 to 150 jaguars.

They contend that reintroducing the cats is essential to species conservation and restoration of the region's ecosystem.

“We are attempting to start a new conversation around jaguar recovery, and this would be a project that would be decades in the making,” Sharon Wilcox of Defenders of Wildlife, one of the study’s authors, said in an interview. “There are ecological dimensions, human dimensions that would need to be addressed in a truly collaborative manner. There would need to be a number of stakeholders who would want to be at the table in order to see this project move forward.”

Under a recovery plan finalized by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Mexico as well as countries in Central and South America are primarily responsible for monitoring jaguar movements within their territory. The agency has noted that the Southwestern U.S. represents just one-tenth of 1% of the jaguar's historic range.



Environmentalists have criticized the plan, saying the U.S. government overlooked opportunities for recovery north of the international border.

While the recovery plan doesn't call for reintroductions in the U.S., federal officials have said efforts will continue to focus on sustaining habitat, eliminating poaching and improving social acceptance to accommodate those cats that find their way across the border.

The habitat highlighted by the conservation groups is rugged and made up mostly of federally managed land. They say it includes water sources, suitable cover and prey.

Fish and Wildlife Service biologists have yet to review the latest study, but such a proposal would likely face fierce opposition from ranchers and some rural residents who have been at odds with environmentalists and the Fish and Wildlife Service over the reintroduction of Mexican gray wolves. That program has faced numerous challenges over the past two decades and while wolf numbers are trending upward, ranchers say so are livestock deaths.

Jaguar advocates said losses could be mitigated through compensation programs like those established as a result of the wolf program.

Then there's the question of where the jaguars would come from. Advocates say a captive breeding program could be developed over time and jaguars from existing wild populations could be relocated.

Wilcox said there are many factors — some understood and others still being studied — that influence the movement of jaguars.

“But this is a vast area with suitable vegetation,” she said. “It’s populated with the right kind of prey for these cats and given its elevation and its latitude, it might provide an important climate refugium for the species in the future.”

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The story has been updated, based on corrected information from one of the study authors, to show the area of suitable habitat identified by the scientists is more than 31,800 square miles (82,400 square kilometers), not 3,125 square miles (nearly 8,100 square kilometers).

Another Special Interest group massing around in the citizens back yard.

How many residents in the area of interest are asking for the big cats?

As appealing the idea of having a self-sustaining jaguar population in the SW US is, all I can see is large swaths of public ground being put off-limits for any use in the name of jaguar conservation.

quote:

Originally posted by TREE 'EM:
As appealing the idea of having a self-sustaining jaguar population in the SW US is, all I can see is large swaths of public ground being put off-limits for any use in the name of jaguar conservation.

Not likely.

Areas currently under grizzly expansion aren't effected other than to educate hunters about bear identification. The same with wolf reintroduction areas.

why not if it s open for hunting ...

Too bad they can't be released in areas where they could control wolf population.

I’m game for that
Who as a hunter would not be excited about that?

I suspect Jaguars are less of a problem than wolves.

But a successful reintroduction of an apex predator requires a plan to manage them, even if it might take a while to get to that point.

My way of doing it would be to have the seasons in the reintroduction- state that once it reaches some fraction of carrying capacity, the licensed offtake will be whatever. That way, if the greenie doofuses put an injunction in, it’s on the whole project, not just on the hunt.

Make them put their money where their mouths are.

400 pound nocturnal spotted/black cat in my back yard.

It might stop immigration on that section of the border.

quote:

Originally posted by Big Wonderful Wyoming:
400 pound nocturnal spotted/black cat in my back yard.

It might stop immigration on that section of the border.

Jags aren't near that big. We have dozens of big cats in the form of lions already roaming along the border to no avail when it comes to immigration.

Jaguars won't be any worse on livestock than mt. lions. Wolves are the real culprit when it comes to livestock depredation. Having breeding females coming across the border is what will make the jaguars viable in the southwest. The male cats are there to find a home range free of established males that will not tolerate other males in their territory. I'm all for it, even introducing them to so. texas south of san-n-tone. Mt. lions are fairly common there already. As for the central arizona mts.(mongollian rim) that country gets quite cold so the cats would have to come from an area where they are acclimated to the cold. Those two indian reservations, the san carlos(sp) and the other one that shares a common border with it just might welcome the cats.

Maybe they could be trained to feed on illegal aliens.

Put them in Rock Creek Park...

Wikipedia for what it is worth says they normally weigh about 212 pounds, but they can weigh up to 345 or so.

There was one in a zoo I used to visit regularly in California, they claimed he weighted over 400. But he was a brick shit house.

There were a couple of them there and he was black if I remember correctly.

It was called the Cat House and it was near Edwards AFB.

quote:

Originally posted by Big Wonderful Wyoming:
Wikipedia for what it is worth says they normally weigh about 212 pounds, but they can weigh up to 345 or so.

From Wikipedia's North American jaguar

Characteristics
Unlike jaguars in South America, jaguars in Central or North America are fairly small.[9] Those in the Chamela-Cuixmala Biosphere Reserve on the Mexican Pacific coast weigh just about 50 kg (110 lb), similar in weight to female cougars.[10] 57.2 kg (126 lb) was the average for six males in Belize,[11] making them similar to South American females in Venezuela.[7]

Plus, a zoo critter on a gourmet 3-meals-a-day diet will not reflect the condition of one in the wild.

When they had first seen Macho B in AZ in the 1990s, they estimated he weighed under 150 lbs. When they captured & euthanized him, he was about 115 due to illness.

Still, I wouldn't want to face a mad jag in a dark alley regardless of weight.

This is the only close encounter I've had with a big cat. Her name was Savannah, and she had the run of the place.If I recall our host here, Saeed, has a couple cheetahs as pets.

I'm down. It would the thrill of my lifetime to see a jaguar in New Mexico thriving in its ancient habitat.
Yes, a loss compensation program in place first for those who may lose stock.

Those 345 pound jags and black ones will be from south america where they are the largest. They are much smaller in central america and southern mexico then get bigger again in the northern end of their range, arizona over to texas. The B & C book of N.A. shows that too.