Conservation of Jaguars in North America
WHEREAS, The American Society of Mammalogists is concerned with the future of mammals worldwide in increasingly threatened habitats, and strongly supports mammalian conservation and responsible use based on sound scientific research; and,
WHEREAS, in historical times, jaguars (Panthera onca) have been documented throughout the southern tier of the United States, from the west to the east coasts, and as far north as Monterey Bay, the Grand Canyon, and the southern Great Plains; and,
WHEREAS, jaguars have been recorded in a wide variety of ecosystems and habitats in the United States, including coniferous forests up to about 3,000 m in elevation, grasslands, and deserts; and,
WHEREAS, the range of the jaguar in the United States was reduced to Arizona and New Mexico by the mid-20th century resulting from loss of habitat and human activities (Leopold 1959; Hall 1981; Brown and Lopez 2001); and,
WHEREAS, continuing persecution, including federal predator control, resulted in the extirpation of jaguars from the southwestern United States, with the last female jaguar in the United States killed on the Mogollon Rim in Arizona in 1963 (Brown and Lopez 2001); and,
WHEREAS, jaguars continue to decline throughout significant portions of their remaining range in the Republic of Mexico, Central America, and South America (Nowell and Jackson 1996); and,
WHEREAS, habitats for jaguars in the United States, including Arizona and New Mexico, are vital to the long-term resilience and survival of the species (Channell et al. 2000), especially in response to ongoing climate change; and,
WHEREAS, ecosystems in the United States in which jaguars formerly occurred are not intact without the sustained presence of jaguars (Ray et al. 2005); and,
WHEREAS, jaguars continue to recolonize parts of southern Arizona and New Mexico by dispersing from northern Mexico (Arizona Game and Fish Department and New Mexico Department of Game and Fish 2007a), and this dispersal across the international border is essential for viability of the species in the United States; and,
WHEREAS, the jaguar was listed as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Conservation Act of 1969, but inadvertently was not afforded protection in the United States under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 until 1997; and,
WHEREAS, recovery plans authorized under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 provide a framework for vital conservation actions unique to each endangered taxon; and,
WHEREAS, effectiveness of critical habitat designation under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 results in progress toward recovery of listed taxa (Taylor et al. 2005); and,
WHEREAS, despite the requirements of the Endangered Species Act and an urgent conservation imperative, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has not developed a jaguar recovery plan or designated jaguar critical habitat; and,
WHEREAS, the Jaguar Conservation Team, an interagency group, has identified and mapped large areas of New Mexico and Arizona that might be suitable for jaguar recovery (Robinson et al. 2006; Van Pelt 2006); and,
WHEREAS, the Jaguar Conservation Team has not specified recovery criteria or management actions for jaguars, and formally opposes potential mechanisms for recovery that are specified in the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Arizona Game and Fish Department and New Mexico Department of Game and Fish 2007b),
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the American Society of Mammalogists, meeting at its 87th Annual Meeting at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 6–10 June 2007, calls upon the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to develop a recovery plan, designate critical habitat for jaguars, and address issues related to dispersal of jaguars across the international border.
Literature Cited
Arizona Game and Fish Department and New Mexico Department of Game and Fish. 2007a. Jaguar conservation assessment and framework for Arizona, New Mexico, and northern Mexico. Draft Final: April 26, 2007. AGFD, Phoenix, Arizona.
Arizona Game and Fish Department and New Mexico Department of Game and Fish. 2007b. Memorandum of Understanding between the Arizona Game and Fish Department and the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish for jaguar conservation. AGFD, Phoenix, Arizona.
Brown, D. E., and C. A. Lopez Gonzalez. 2001. Borderland jaguars/Tigres de la frontera. The University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Channell, R., M. V. Lomolino, and M. V. Lomolino. 2000. Dynamic biogeography and conservation of endangered species. Nature 40:84–86.
Hall, E. R. 1981. The mammals of North America. 2nd edition. John Wiley and Sons, New York, New York.
Leopold, A. S. 1959. Wildlife in Mexico: the game birds and mammals. University of California Press, Berkeley, California.
Nowell, K. and P. Jackson. 1996. Wild cats: status survey and conservation action plan. Biodiversity and Conservation 7:842–844.
Ray, J. C., K. H. Redford, R. S. Steneck, and J. Berger. 2005. Large carnivores and the conservation of biodiversity. Island Press, Washington, D.C.
Robinson, M. J., C. Bradley, and J. Boyd. 2006. Potential habitat for jaguars in New Mexico. Report from Jaguar Habitat Subcommittee to Jaguar Conservation Team. Arizona Game and Fish Department, Phoenix.
Taylor, M. F., K. F. Suckling, and J. J. Rachlinski. 2005. The effectiveness of the Endangered Species Act: a quantitative analysis. BioScience 55:360–367.
Van Pelt, W. E. 2006. Potential jaguar habitat in Arizona and New Mexico: summary of work and recommendations of the Jaguar Habitat Subcommittee for the Jaguar Conservation Team. Arizona Game and Fish Department, Phoenix.