Jaguar Reintroduction in the United States

[Balam]

"While guiding a mountain lion (Puma concolor) hunt in the Peloncillo Mountains of Arizona, his dogs led him on an unusually grueling chase. The vigor of the cat they were trailing took him by surprise. As Glenn (1996) writes in Eyes of Fire:

I trusted my dogs a hundred percent, but couldn’t believe any lion could run this far, that fast, and not give out, so I went to check the tracks. I wondered if some of the younger hounds had gotten off on a coyote or something else besides a lion (p. 7).

When he finally caught up with his hounds, Glenn realized they had not been following a lion at all. They were chasing a jaguar (Panthera onca) (Glenn, 1996).

Not even six months after this event, rancher Jack Childs encountered a second jaguar in the Arizona borderlands (Rabinowitz, 2014; Mahler, 2009). Approximately ten years after the last known jaguar in the United States was killed, el tigre had returned."

From The Jaguar Allies

This is Macho B, the first jaguar captured in the US in the 21st century, he died from the capturing procedures

*This image is copyright of its original author

We later got the news of El Jefe, the bear-eating jaguar from Arizona.

*This image is copyright of its original author

A third male named Sombra (Shadow) was seen in 2018 and captured in a camera trap in Arizona in an area where he was sympatric with brown bears and cougars. Full video of the camera trap:

I'm not entirely sure of the state of this male, but I'm hoping he's safe and alive.

The jaguar witnessed in Arizona belongs to the same population seen in northern Mexico in the state of Sonora. The Northern Jaguar Project follows these jaguars closely and here are some images of what they look like:

Male named El Guapo

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

Mating pair

*This image is copyright of its original author

The jaguars from this area are small and present a more gracious build compared to those further south, in my opinion, they are a pretty unique population.

With the border wall being constructed that separates the US from Mexico is clear that the corridor for these jaguars between both countries will be cut and access will be restricted. Based on the environment of Arizona and southern California where these jaguars are native to as well, I believe it may be more suitable to sustain large felid populations due to the larger prey and in larger quantities found there, i.e. elk, mule deer, and whitetail deer. In order for these jaguars to properly recolonize the area, there needs to be an effort put in selecting certain individuals from Mexico and directly transporting them to selected reserves in Arizona. This reintroduction project would be similar to what happened to wolves in Yellowstone, but in my opinion, it would be relatively easier as these jaguars are already accustomed to the environment.

Opponents to the reintroduction idea state that they could prove harmful for cattle ranches, but I believe that if the government can create and protect specific areas where large animals like elk are plentiful, there would be no need for jaguars to wander into farmland for food, elk are similar in size to the cattle they predate on. Jaguars would contribute much to the food chain in the region alongside sympatric carnivores like wolves, cougars, and bears. Reply