In Arizona and New Mexico, a state-led Jaguar Conservation Team (JAGCT) is working to protect and conserve a species that many people do not even know is native to the United States. Created in 1997, JAGCT is a voluntary partnership among state, federal, and local government agencies, private individuals, and other entities with an interest in jaguar conservation. Their efforts and those of colleagues in Mexico are helping create a more promising future for the jaguar in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands.

JAGCT activities include: compiling scientific literature and occurrence information; developing protocols for jaguar sighting-verification, handling, capture, and verification of prey killed; creating an education curriculum; monitoring jaguar presence (primarily through the Borderlands Jaguar Detection Project); and developing procedures for the Malpai Borderlands Group (MBG) to use in voluntarily compensating livestock owners for documented losses to depredating jaguars. One depredation has been documented as of February 2009; MBG compensated the livestock owner.

JAGCT has also assessed the possible effects of several predator control methods on jaguars and formed various committees to deal with other issues related to jaguar conservation. A Scientific Advisory Committee advises JAGCT on its objectives in and approaches to jaguar conservation. The advisory committee includes several of the most renowned and well-published jaguar conservation experts in the world, as well as expert veterinarians and two scientists who have been working with bordelands jaguars for a decade or more.

As JAGCT tasks are completed, reports and other documents are made available here in downloadable format, or in printed form upon request. Be sure to look here for periodic updates on JAGCT activities. To receive electronically distributed updates on jaguar-related issues, including public notices of JAGCT meetings, please visit http://azgfd.gov/signup and subscribe to the electronic newsletter, Endangered Species Updates.

In the mid-1800s, the jaguar's distribution extended virtually continuously from southern Brazil and Argentina north throughout South America and Central America, then along the coasts and the western mountains of Mexico into the southwestern United States as far north as the Grand Canyon. Truly historical records in the United States extended much farther east, west, and north than Arizona-New Mexico-Texas but that was long before the West was settled. Jaguars occurred in southern Texas as recently as 1946 and 1948, but no sightings have been documented since then. Records from Arizona and New Mexico from the 1900s were primarily of single animals that were killed in south-central Arizona or southwestern New Mexico. By 1990, jaguars were thought to have been eliminated from the United States. That changed in 1996 when two different male jaguars were photographed in southwestern New Mexico and Arizona. Today, the northern-most known population of jaguars is centered about 140 miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border, in Sonora. Any jaguars that occur in the AZ-NM/Mexico borderlands almost certainly belong to that population.

Habitat:

Toward the center of their range, thousands of miles south of Arizona, jaguars are thought to prefer lowland wet habitats, typically swampy savannas or tropical rain forests. At the northern and southern periphery, they occupy warmer, more arid habitat types, including oak-pine woodlands. In Arizona and New Mexico, they are known to have occurred in habitats ranging from desert grassland to montane-conifer forest. Their movement corridors in the American Southwest and northern Mexico are not well known but probably include a variety of upland habitats that connect some of the isolated, rugged mountains, foothills, and ridges in this region. Corridors along riparian-dominated lowlands (e.g. river valleys) might also be used but there is less evidence for that than for more rugged mid-elevation terrain.

Current Status:
In 1996, independent discovery of two different jaguars changed prevailing perceptions about the species' presence in the United States. On March 7, 1996, houndsman/rancher Warner Glenn discovered and photographed an adult male jaguar in southwestern New Mexico (see Eyes of Fire, below). It was the first jaguar documented in the United States since two were killed illegally in Arizona in 1971 (near Nogales) and 1986 (Dos Cabezas Mountains). Then, amazingly, on August 31, 1996, yet another houndsman, Jack Childs, discovered a different adult male jaguar in south-central Arizona (see Ambushed on the Jaguar Trail: hidden cameras on the Mexican Border, below). In no small way, Warner Glenn's and Jack Childs' discoveries and their passion for jaguars are responsible for inspiring the borderlands jaguar conservation effort in which they continue to participate today.

By 2009, JAGCT monitoring efforts, including continued vigilance by Glenn and Childs, had confirmed occurrence of four different adult male jaguars (possibly as many as six) since 1996 in the borderlands of southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico. No females or sub-adult males were documented during that period. The last documented female jaguar occurrence in Arizona was in 1963, when one was shot near Big Lake, White Mountains. Other females have been reported for Arizona, notably one with a cub in 1910 and another with two cubs in 1906. No records exist for occurrence of any female jaguars in New Mexico.

The monitoring data are not sufficient to reveal whether even one of the jaguars documented between 1996 and March 2009 was continuously present in the United States, even within a single year. However, the data are sufficient to confirm that the jaguar Jack Childs observed on August 31, 1996 was present in Arizona many times between that original sighting and its death on March 2, 2009 (Macho B). Macho B was photographed by remote camera-traps dozens of times over that period, in a home range of about 500 square miles -- just considering the Arizona component. Macho B also was documented crossing the border in both directions. Nobody knows how widely he traveled in Mexico, before returning to Arizona.

Jaguars breed year-round, range-wide. Gestation is about 100 days; litters range from one to four cubs (usually two). The cubs remain with the mother for nearly two years. Females mature at three years of age, males at four. Studies have documented few wild jaguars more than 11 years old. At 15-16 years old, Arizona's Macho B was likely the oldest wild jaguar ever known.

The list of prey taken by jaguars includes more than 85 species, such as javelina, armadillos, caimans, turtles, birds, fish, and various livestock. In Brazil, people claim the jaguar sometimes uses its tail as a lure for fish. In the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, javelina and deer are probably dietary mainstays.

Jaguars are known to be far ranging. Movements of 500 miles have been recorded. If food is abundant, they may become sedentary and range over only a few square miles. Like most cats, this species is territorial and marks its boundaries with scents. Jaguars roar to announce their presence to other jagues; no other cat native to North America roars.

For jaguars to thrive or even to persist in Arizona, a few modest needs must be met. They must be protected from being killed. They must have an adequate prey base. And they must have movement corridors to connect with source populations in northern Mexico. Abundance of available prey, and suitable resting sites, are more important than any particular vegetation type to this wide-ranging species. The core population of jaguars in northern Mexico must also be sufficiently large to provide for dispersal into the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. Field research, especially on habitat use and movement patterns, in Arizona, New Mexico, and Mexico is underway to provide a sound scientific basis for management decisions, but much more work is needed.

AZ-NM/Mexico jaguar conservation efforts include owners of private lands, ranchers on public lands, nongovernmental organizations, scientists, and state and federal agencies in Arizona, New Mexico, and Mexico. They are all working to identify and meet jaguar conservation needs throughout the borderlands. Progress has been made since 1997 but a variety of significant conservation needs still exist: (1) jaguars in the borderlands must be protected from unlawful killing; (2) state criminal penalties in Arizona and both civil and criminal penalties in New Mexico should be commensurate with federal penalties; (3) borderlands jaguars must be studied so that all conservation decisions about them are better informed by credible data about their occurrence, diet, behavior, and habitat use; (4) borderlands habitats must be managed in ways that provide the basic elements that jaguars must have -- native prey, cover/shelter, water, and natural corridors that enable movement back and forth across political boundaries and from one area to another within those boundaries; (5) jaguar conservation efforts in the United States must continue to integrate more effectively with those in Mexico; and (6) outreach is needed to inform and educate agencies and the public about borderlands jaguars and their legal protections and ecological needs.

Hopefully, the conservation efforts being designed and implemented today by JAGCT and its cooperators, including the public and Mexico, will help provide future generations in the United States and Mexico with a unique gift -- continued existence of jaguars that roam freely across the U.S.-Mexico border and throughout the borderlands!

Please report any possible jaguar sighting (see brochure PDF) immediately to the Arizona Game and Fish Department (520-388-4449 or 623-236-7201) or to the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish (505-522-9796). Take very detailed notes on your observation before reporting it. Surprisingly, it is very easy to mistake many things as a jaguar, including bobcats, mountain lions, feral housecats, and even dogs. It costs time and money to investigate possible sightings, so please be careful about reporting leads, especially if the sighting involves a black animal. Black jaguars have never been documented north of southern Mexico, many hundreds of miles south of the United States. In poor light, or when seen from an angle, the tan coat of a mountain lion can appear to be black -- even to someone who has seen many mountain lions! Note: spots are clearly evident on all jaguars, even on the true black jaguars that occur in Central and South America and which are so prevalent in zoos around the world.

One of the more contentious topics that JAGCT has faced is capture of a jaguar. The need for detailed information about borderlands jaguar presence and behavior is beyond debate but the best way (or ways) to get that information is arguable. Trained, "scat-sniffing" dogs could provide a wealth of information, if conditions were right (e.g. not too arid or hot) and if funding were available to retain the services of both dog handler(s) and dog(s) for sufficient time in all months and seasons and to cover the costs of laboratory analysis of the samples obtained. "Track counts" and "hair snares" could also yield valuable information, again if sufficient numbers of observers were available to cover the target area in each month and season. These "non-invasive" techniques clearly have both potential benefits and limitations if applied to jaguars. One benefit is that they do not cause risk to the jaguar itself.

Less labor-intensive techniques are available that can ensure more continuous coverage and a wider array of detailed information. Remote cameras ("camera traps) have been providing jaguar location information in southern Arizona for several years, but typically the photos come in days to weeks or even months after an event has occurred. It takes quite a few days to run the 50 or so cameras that are dispersed across hundreds of square miles of rugged terrain. Over the past several years, though, these remote cameras have provided literally thousands of photographs of everything from recreationists (in one case, clothing optional!) and other human passers-by to javelina, mountain lions, bears, bobcats, opossums, and other species of wildlife. Literally dozens of the photos are whole or partial shots of jaguars (most are of Macho B). Camera traps clearly have benefits and limitations (fixed positions and camera angles) like the other non-invasive techniques and they also cause no risk to the animal itself.

In comparison, a Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite tracking collar on just one jaguar would yield about 1200-1500 specific time-sequenced locations per year, if programmed to upload data every 3 hours. The data could be downloaded and secure-accessed by monitoring staff anywhere that has computer access. GPS data would provide far more insights into how jaguars use the borderlands than any other approach. However, an animal must be captured before it can be collared and captured animals must be immobilized before they are collared and released. Immobilizing (tranquilizing) any animal, whether wildlife or human, involves risk to the animal and to the handlers.

After considerable discussion of the costs and benefits of various monitoring alternatives and drafts and final recommendations and protocols, the signatory member agencies present in a JAGCT public meeting on April 27, 2006 unanimously recommended that the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AGFD), New Mexico Department of Game and Fish (NMDGF), and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) authorize the capture, tranquilization, and radio-collaring of a borderlands jaguar, should an opportunity arise (JAGCT Briefing on Capture PDF).

An intentional capture decision would prove difficult to make. It would require considerable preparation, including: refinement of existing coordination, capture, and handling guidelines; accumulation of a variety of equipment and supplies; presence of an age and condition-appropriate jaguar at a logistically-feasible site on public lands or on owner-willing private lands in capture-appropriate weather conditions (e.g. not too hot, little chance of flooding); and timely availability of necessary personnel. That is a lot of stars to align.

AGFD already had and still has the authority to capture a jaguar. This authority is vested in various documents approved by USFWS (currently: AGFD Section 10a1a Permit 2007-2011 PDF; AGFD Section 6 Work Plan Segment 20 PDF). NMDGF did not and does not have such authority and would need to request it from USFWS. Regardless, as noted in several JAGCT meetings from 2005 through 2008, in view of the JAGCT recomendation both state wildlife agencies intended to coordinate more fully with USFWS and with each other at the Director level on all aspects of capture before making final decisions to exercise any current or future authorities regarding intentional capture of a jaguar.

While awaiting agency decisions on intentional capture of one or more jaguars, in 2007 JAGCT again revised its protocols for jaguar handling (Jaguar Handling Protocol PDF, 25kb) and capture (Jaguar Capture Guidelines PDF). The JAGCT capture guidelines invoked more detailed capture and immobilization guidelines that had been published by the Wildlife Conservation Society in 2005 (WCS Jaguar Health Program Manual PDF). Note: the WCS guidelines are now mainained by Panthera, an international "wild cats" conservation organization that was founded in 2006 by the reigning jaguar expert in the world, Alan Rabinowitz, and others.

Alignment of the necessary stars for an intentional capture decision (i.e. the right jaguar at the right time at the right location) had still not occurred as of February 18, 2009. But, on that date AGFD inadvertently captured a borderlands jaguar (subsequently identified as Macho B) in a foot-hold snare. The snare-set location, in a remote area southwest of Tucson, was known to be used by three mountain lions and two bears. AGFD researchers set the snare to capture one of those lions for an ongoing study of wildlife corridors.

The work JAGCT had done to prepare for intentional capture of a jaguar was put to good use by the AGFD researchers. They used the handling information (with updated information on anesthetic and dosage recently provided by two expert veterinarians) to immobilize, process, and GPS-collar the snared jaguar before releasing it on site, after it recovered from the drugs. Was there a choice regarding immobilizing the jaguar? No. Once that jaguar was in the snare, the researchers had to drug it to remove it from the snare; if it had to be drugged anyway, it might as well be GPS collared so we could learn more from it. But, that event is a different story, one that is detailed on our Macho B Jaguar Web page.

As a member and chair of the JAGCT, AGFD maintains this webpage to provide information on actions directed toward conservation of the only "roaring" cat that is native to North America. Updates usually occur after JAGCT meetings, which have been held at least twice each year since April 1997.

In 2006-2007, after a decade of work, JAGCT meeting discussions focused mainly on several key issues. Principal among them was the need for renewal and revision of the Memorandum of Agreement under which AGFD and NMDGF have convened JAGCT since it was created in 1997. The agreement was renewed in March 2007 as a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU; PDF) between the two State wildlife agencies. As of February 2009, the USFWS and 14 other state, local, and federal government entities have become signatory cooperators under the MOU (PDF). Other governmental entities can also become cooperators as time goes by, as prescribed within the MOU.

In July 2007, AGFD and NMDGF also completed a new Conservation Framework for the jaguar conservation effort (PDF). This Framework and an AGFD-NMDGF Conservation Assessment (completion projected for May 2009) have replaced the Jaguar Conservation Assessment and Strategy for the Jaguar in Arizona and New Mexico (1997) that first provided a science-based adaptive management framework for JAGCT activities.

Much has changed since 1997, including (for example): much more extensive documentation of persistent jaguar presence in the borderlands; an exciting conservation effort in Mexico that in part was stimulated by and is well coordinated with the AZ-NM effort; and, of course, federal listing of the jaguar in AZ-NM under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA; as amended). New challenges have also emerged, including how the United States will control its southern border and ensure National Security, while still enabling wildlife to move back and forth as necessary to sustain populations that represent national and international assets of immeasurable value.

AGFD and NMDGF, with assistance from USFWS and other cooperators, have carefully crafted the new MOU and Conservation Framework to maintain their core commitments in several areas of jaguar conservation: (1) maintaining an adequate and appropriate conservation program for the jaguar that is consistent with state and federal authorities, agency missions and obligations, including under Section 6 of ESA; (2) voluntary conservation, with an emphasis on local stakeholder participation in public forums, as opposed to regulatory action; (3) protecting jaguars against illegal take (killing) and advocating state penalties commensurate with federal penalties under ESA for illegal take; (4) education and outreach as a means of effecting jaguar conservation; and (5) ensuring that jaguars are appropriately able to roam back and forth across the US-Mexico border and within Arizona and New Mexico when they are present here.

Many of the JAGCT's efforts have been productive already. The Borderlands Jaguar Detection Project (the JAGCT's field arm for monitoring; see 2007 and 2008 Annual Reports, available as downloads at the right side of this page), the educational curriculum that JAGCT developed with professional educators, and diligent coordination and cooperation with Mexico on jaguar conservation are yielding results that we can only begin to appreciate. However, much remains to be done, and collaboration with other agencies and the public within the MOU emphasis areas of Arizona and New Mexico and in Mexico will be the key to long-term success. We hope you will help us accomplish what needs to be done.

Again, to receive electronically distributed updates on jaguar-related issues, including all public notices of JAGCT meetings, please visit http://www.azgfd.gov/signup and subscribe to the newsletter, Endangered Species Updates.

- February 19, 2009 [PDF]

- September 25, 2008 [PDF]

- March 13, 2008 [PDF]

- October 25, 2007 [PDF]

- May 2, 2007 [PDF]

- February 1, 2007 [PDF]

- June 29, 2006 [PDF]

- April 27, 2006 [PDF]

- January 19-20, 2006 [PDF]

- August 5, 2005 [PDF]
- January 13, 2005 [PDF]
- August 8, 2004 [PDF]
- January 23, 2004 [PDF]
- July 31, 2003 [PDF]
- January 20, 2003 [PDF]
- July 25, 2002 [PDF]
- January 31, 2002 [PDF]
- July 28, 2001 [PDF]
- January 18, 2001 [PDF]
- July 20, 2000 [PDF]
- January 19, 2000 [PDF]
- July 15, 1999 [PDF]
- January 21, 1999 [PDF]
- July 30, 1998 [PDF]
- April 23, 1998 [PDF]

- January 22, 1998 [PDF]
- October 15, 1997 [PDF]
- July 30, 1997 [PDF]
- April 30, 1997 [PDF]

- February 16, 2006 [PDF]

- November 18, 2005 [PDF]
- August 30, 2004 [PDF]

- December 12, 2000 [PDF]
- July 20, 2000 [PDF]
- June 22, 2000 [PDF]
- October 21, 1999 [PDF]
- July 15, 1999 [PDF]
- April 15, 1999 [PDF]
- January 21, 1999 [PDF]
- September 22, 1998 [PDF]
- June 29, 1998 [PDF]

Evaluation of the Relative Suitability of Potential Jaguar Habitat in New Mexico by K.A. Menke and C.L. Hayes. 2003. New Mexico Department of Game and Fish. Albuquerque, New Mexico. [PDF]

Habitat for Jaguars in New Mexico by M.J. Robinson. 2006. Contract report to Arizona Game and Fish Department. Center for Biological Diversity. Silver City, New Mexico. [PDF]

Review of Jaguar Conservation Agreement Activities March 1997 through December 2003 by W.E. Van Pelt. 2004. Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program Technical Report 179. Arizona Game and Fish Department, Phoenix, Arizona. [PDF]

Conservation Assessment and Strategy for the Jaguar in Arizona and New Mexico by T.B. Johnson and W.E. Van Pelt. 1997. Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program Technical Report 105. Arizona Game and Fish Department, Phoenix, Arizona. [PDF]

Annual Report on the Jaguar Conservation Agreement for Arizona and New Mexico by W.E. Van Pelt and T.B. Johnson. 1998. Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program Technical Report 132. Arizona Game and Fish Department, Phoenix, Arizona. [PDF]

Characterizing and Mapping Potential Jaguar Habitat in Arizona by James R. Hatten, Annalaura Averill-Murray and W.E. Van Pelt. 2003. Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program Technical Report 203. Arizona Game and Fish Department, Phoenix, Arizona. [PDF, 3.5mb]

Wanted: Information leading to the protection and conservation of jaguars along the Arizona-New Mexico borderlands (pamphlet). [PDF]

Ambushed on the Jaguar Trail: Hidden Cameras on the Mexican Border. 2008. J.L. Childs and A.M. Childs. Published by Rio Nuevo Press, Tucson, Arizona.

Tracking the Felids of the Borderlands. 1998. J.L. Childs. Published by Printing Corner Press, El Paso, Texas. Available by contacting Jack Childs, 4069 W. Valencia Rd., Tucson, AZ 85746. Phone: (520) 883-4029.

Eyes of Fire - Encounter with a Borderlands Jaguar. 1996. W. Glenn. Published by Printing Corner Press, El paso, Texas. Available by contacting Warner Glenn, PO Drawer 1039, Douglas, AZ 85608. Phone: (520) 558-2470.

Inquiries about jaguar conservation efforts in Arizona and the Southwest, including activities of the Jaguar Conservation Team, should be directed via email to jaguar@azgfd.gov or via USPS mail to: Jaguar Conservation Project, Arizona Game and Fish Department, 5000 W. Carefree Highway, Phoenix, AZ 85086.

Information on Recent Jaguar Sightings
Information on Recent Jaguar Sightings as of November 16, 2012

Below are records provided to various organizations in response to their public records request for certain records. Because matters related to jaguar conservation are of high public interest, we are posting these materials on the web for any member of the public to access.

• Cover letter accompanying the records provided to CBD
• Public records provided to CBD (redacted to protect privacy under state law)
• Public records provided to Arizona Daily Star - Tony Davis (March 28, 2013)