The jaguar has always been a creature of dualities—feared as a ruthless hunter, honored as a deity. Today in North America, the duality continues, as efforts to save the largest felid in the Western Hemisphere from extinction are met with reactions ranging from dedicated support by some, to ambivalence and even opposition by others.
In southern Arizona, the recent capture of Macho B, a jaguar conservationists had previously recorded only in still photos during the past 13 years, ultimately ended in euthanasia. One of only two jaguars known to roam the region north of the U.S. border, Macho B was captured during a study which monitored the habitat connectivity of mountain lions and black bears. Arizona Game and Fish researchers took the opportunity to tag the felid in February of this year, in the hopes he would illuminate jaguar migration patterns. Tragically, less than two weeks later, the same researchers noted Macho’s movement patterns had slowed, and upon capturing him, found he was in kidney failure, which led to the decision to euthanize him.
Public response to Macho B’s fate ranged from sadness to anger, and also re-ignited discussions about keeping migration corridors open between the U.S. and Mexico. Stakeholders in this conversation include conservationists, concerned about the extinction of a magnificent creature and the associated degradation of biodiversity, ranchers who suffer potential loss of cattle to jaguars, and activists on both sides of the border issue, to name a few.
The conversation has shown the potential for enlightenment and compromise, with several US and Mexican coalitions forming over the past two decades.
Among the groups working to ensure jaguar preservation is Naturalia. Formed by a group of conservationists from central Mexico in 1990, Naturalia, uses jaguars as a focal point of preservation for natural ecosystems. The group works on a variety of conservation projects, including reforestation and environmental education. In 1997, Naturalia partnered with the US-based Wildlands Project and conservationists in Tucson to form the Northern Jaguar Project, (NJP), whose goal is to preserve the jaguar population in northern Sonora. In 2003, NJP purchased and now manages Rancho Los Pavos, a 10,000-acre cattle ranch in the heart of jaguar territory, the first reserve in Mexico established expressly for the cats.
NJP and Naturalia have identified three specific challenges to ensuring long-term well-being for jaguars: creating more sympathetic attitudes toward the cats, securing wildlife corridors, and expanding the reserve. The first issue is being met with their unique Fotos Felinos program, which invites area ranchers to maintain remote cameras on their property and pays for photos taken of jaguars as well as other endangered species. With ranchers now receiving stipends for photos, rather than compensation for lost livestock, Fotos Felinos is a well-established, successful program. Additionally, through a long negotiation and fundraising process, the partnership purchased 35,000-acre Rancho Zetasora, adjacent to Los Pavos, expanding the reserve nearly four-fold. The combined area, dubbed the Northern Jaguar Reserve, now covers 70 square miles of jaguar-friendly terrain in Northern Mexico.
During the next several years, NJP and Naturalia will work to create regional partnerships to protect jaguars and other wildlife, ensuring corridors, as well as extending the reserve. The Yaqui tribe has agreed to help extend the reserve through agreements encompassing tribal land southwest of Zetasora. Additionally, the NJP partnership now consists of 33 organizations internationally, including Cuenca Los Ojos Foundation, a large group of ranches in Sonora; The Nature Conservancy, Universities of Arizona, New Mexican and Montana, Texas Christian University, and US Fish and Wildlife service, to name a few. Together, these groups, and others, continue their quest to ensure jaguars have the ability to roam freely along appropriate corridors, with the goal of allowing them to expand naturally and re-colonize in their former habitat. Perhaps through these and other efforts, a greater sense of cross-border partnership, honoring the dualities of all species, will emerge.
There is a growing body of information about jaguars and efforts toward their preservation. One source recommended by the NJP is Borderland Jaguars: Tigres de la Frontera by David Brown and NJP board member Carlos A. López González, which documents human-jaguar contact in the Southwest and presents jaguar folklore from both sides of the border.