SHARE:
submit to reddit
print



Wild jaguar outfitted with radio-collar in U.S. for first time
Jeremy Hance
mongabay.com
February 20, 2009




The Department of Fish and Game in Arizona captured a jaguar south Of Tucson, Arizona and fitted it with a GPS radio collar. The jaguar, a well-documented male named ‘Macho’, is the first in the US to be fitted with such a collar, providing frequent updates on its movements.

The largest cat in the Americas has recently sparked a legal battle in the United States. Last year when the Bush Administration refused to protect the jaguar, the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental non-profit group, filed a lawsuit in April 2008.

Currently, only four jaguars are known to inhabit the United States. It is believed that none of them originated there, but rather migrated over the border from Mexico. The last native-born jaguar in the US was killed in 1963 in Eastern Arizona.


Will the jaguar survive in the United States?
The most imminent threat for the recovery of the jaguar in the Southwest is continuing construction of the border wall. Eventually the wall will make it impossible for the few jaguars of the United States to breed with the larger population in Mexico, essentially dooming the few individuals who have crossed the border.

“Macho and other jaguars need President Obama to tear down the border wall and authorize a recovery plan and critical habitat protection,” said Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity in a press release. “That way Macho may find a mate, and future generations of jaguars will still find homes in our forests and deserts.”

The jaguar has not always been so rare in the Untied States; historically it ranged from California to the Appalachian Mountains. As many places in the US were settled the great car was eradicated for its fur and the concern that it would kill livestock.

The suit brought by the Center for Biological Diversity will be heard on March 23rd in Arizona.







Related articles

Camera trap photos reveal bushmeat hunting threat to jaguars in Ecuador
(01/27/2009) Jaguars are the largest cats of the Americas and third largest cats in the world. The primary rainforest in the Amazon region of Ecuador is among their last remaining strongholds. Jaguars are listed as “vulnerable” in Ecuador, and Santiago Espinosa, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) fellow, PhD candidate from University of Florida/Gainesville, and WWF fellow, wants to know just how many jaguars are left in his home country. He is developing strategies to protect them by determining their numbers and the factors that threaten them through a unique method of non-invasive photography.


Bush Administration moves to weaken endangered speices protection by invoking new rationale
(07/31/2008) The Bush administration's handling of the Endangered Species Act has put the cactus ferruginous pygmy owl in danger of extinction, according to the Centre for Biological Diversity. Even though less than 30 individuals exist in the United States—all in Arizona—the species was removed from the Endangered Species Act in 2006, after nine years of protection.


Border fence may drive largest American cat to extinction
(01/22/2008) The Bush Administration's decision to not prepare a recovery plan for the endangered jaguar in its native habitat in Arizona and New Mexico may spell the end for the big cat in the United States, says an environmental group.


Central America agrees to jaguar corridor
(05/23/2006) A group of environment ministers representing the seven nations of Central America and Mexico have agreed to establish a network of protected areas and wildlife corridors to safeguard jaguar populations, according to the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society. The decision was made at the Second Mesoamerica Protected Area Congress held in Panama earlier this month. br>



SHARE THIS ARTICLE:
print


Tags:
Mexico big cats animals cats carnivores conservation environment jeremy hance green great cats united states saving species from extinction endangered species environmental politics

CITATION:
Jeremy Hance
mongabay.com (February 20, 2009). Wild jaguar outfitted with radio-collar in U.S. for first time. http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0218-hance_arizonajaguar.html



News index | RSS | News Feed | Twitter | Home


Advertisements:


Organic Apparel from Patagonia | Insect-repelling clothing




Mongabay Store
Wildlife of Madagascar T-shirt
Wildlife of Madagascar T-shirt
Bold and Dangerous - Pygmy tyrant t-shirts
Bold and Dangerous - Pygmy tyrant
Love me before I'm gone - Gladiator frog t-shirts
Love me before I'm gone - Gladiator frog
Licking this frog may make you crazy t-shirts
Licking this frog may make you crazy



MONGABAY.COM
Mongabay.com seeks to raise interest in and appreciation of wild lands and wildlife, while examining the impact of emerging trends in climate, technology, economics, and finance on conservation and development (more)

CONTENTS
Rainforests
Tropical Fish
News
Madagascar
Pictures
Kids' Site
Languages
TCS Journal
About
Archives
Topics | RSS
Newsletter



WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
Email:


Climate Change Communicator of the Year 2010

Mongabay has been nominated for Climate Change Communicator of the Year 2010 by George Mason University's Center for Climate Change Communication. Balloting runs through February 15. Be sure to vote!


INTERACT
Facebook
Contact
Twitter
Advertise
Photo Store
Help


SUPPORT
Help support mongabay.com when you buy from Amazon.com



POPULAR PAGES
Rainforests
Rain forests
Amazon deforestation
Deforestation
Deforestation stats
Why rainforests matter
Saving rainforests
Deforestation stats
Rainforest canopy

News
Most popular articles
Worth saving?
Forest conservation
Earth Day
Poverty alleviation
Cell phones in Africa
Seniors helping Africa
Saving orangutans in Borneo
Palm oil
Amazon palm oil
Future of the Amazon
Cane toads
Dubai environment
Investing to save rainforests
Visiting the rainforest
Biomimicry
Defaunation
Blue lizard
Amazon fires
Extinction debate
Extinction crisis
Blackwashing
Industrial deforestation
Save the Amazon
Rainforests & REDD
Brazil's Amazon plan
Malaysian palm oil
Avatar story
New Guinea
Sulawesi
Amazon ranching
Madagascar
Borneo

News topics
Amazon
Biofuels
Brazil
Carbon Finance
Conservation
Climate Change
Deforestation
Energy
Happy-upbeat
Indonesia
Interviews
Oceans
Palm oil
Rainforests
REDD
Solutions
Wildlife
MORE TOPICS



Non-English Sites
Chinese
Farsi
French
German
Greek
Indonesian
Portuguese
Spanish
Other languages
GA_googleFillSlot("news_160x600_btf_right");

Photo sections
Argentina photos
Australia photos
Belize photos
Botswana photos
Brazil photos
Burma photos
Cambodia photos
China photos
Colombia photos
Costa Rica photos
Croatia photos
Deforestation photos
Frog photos
Gabon photos
Grand Canyon photos
Guatemala photos
Honduras photos
Iceland photos
India photos
Indonesia photos
Kenya photos
Laos photos
Lemur photos
Madagascar photos
Malaysia photos
Mexico photos
Monkey photos
New Zealand photos
Panama photos
Peru photos
Rainforest photos
Slovenia photos
Sunset photos
Suriname photos
Tanzania photos
Thailand photos
Uganda photos
United States photos
Venezuela photos





STORE

SHIRTS
HIGH RESOLUTION PHOTOS / PRINTS


CALENDARS
  • Mount Kenya
  • East Africa Safari Wildlife
  • Kenya's Turkana People
  • Peru
  • African Wildlife
  • Alaska
  • China
  • Madagascar Chameleons


    CANVAS BAGS

  • Hallucinogenic frog bag
  • Madagascar wildlife bag








  • Copyright mongabay 2010