On 9-24-04, the Center for Biological Diversity and Defenders of Wildlife reached a settlement agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service which should lead to the development of a recovery plan and critical habitat for the jaguar. The jaguar was listed as an endangered species in 1997 due to a Center lawsuit, but the agency has refused to prepare a federal recovery plan or identify critical habitat areas. Settling a lawsuit filed in July 2003, the agreement requires the agency to issue a new critical habitat decision by July 3, 2006 at which time adequacy of habitat protection and recovery planning will be reanalyzed.
Reports by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service show that species with critical habitat and recovery plans recover much faster than species without. Nonetheless, the Bush administration has dramatically reduced the number of recovery plans being developed and has refused to designate a single critical habitat except under court order.
The Arizona Department of Game and Fish developed a state-wide map indicating habitat that may be suitable for jaguar re-occupation. The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish has done the same, but the interagency Jaguar Conservation Team rejected New Mexico's map as inadequate, indicating that additional areas qualify as habitat. The New Mexico map will be redone.
Although jaguars are typically thought of as rainforest creatures, historically they also lived in the United States and have been recorded in the southern tier of states from California through Louisiana. Like wolves, jaguars were exterminated by the federal government and by ranchers. A female jaguar with kittens was killed in the early 20th century as far north as the Grand Canyon, and others were killed in northern New Mexico and in central Texas during the 1930s and 1940s. The last female jaguar known in the United States was killed in 1963 in southeastern Arizona in the region where Mexican gray wolves now roam. Over the past few years, jaguars have been photographed in Arizona and New Mexico close to the border with Mexico. Additional records considered valid by the Jaguar Conservation Team indicate jaguars in the Gila National Forest during the 1990s.
For more information.