Defenders' Experts
Jaguar Recovery Plan
Defenders of Wildlife v. Hall
Case Background:
On June 3, 2008, Defenders filed suit challenging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) failure to create a much needed recovery plan for the jaguar as required under section 4 of the Endangered Species Act. This suit was filed in reaction to FWS’s January 2, 2008 decision not to prepare a recovery plan for the jaguar despite the fact that the species has been listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) since 1997. FWS has concluded that the jaguar is a “foreign species,” and therefore claims that the jaguar will not benefit from a recovery plan. This decision is yet another example of a troubling trend in which FWS has avoided its responsibilities under the ESA regarding listed species that have relatively small domestic ranges in comparison to their foreign distributions.
Indeed, this adaptable species is native to large swaths of the southern U.S., from the peninsular ranges of coastal California to the swampy bottomlands of Louisiana, with jaguar presence within Arizona being particularly well-documented. While the jaguar was largely eliminated from its historic range within the U.S. by the mid-20th century, the past decade has witnessed a remarkable resurgence of the great cat, and researchers have repeatedly documented individual jaguars that they believe have taken up residence within the southwestern borderlands area.
The jaguar is not only a domestic species that requires a recovery plan, but is also in dire need of a recovery plan in the face of imminent threats posed to their habitat and key migratory passages along the U.S-Mexico border, including illegal immigration, border wall construction, and other border security enforcement efforts. A jaguar recovery plan would help identify corridors essential to the species, as well as other necessary management actions to better integrate national security efforts with jaguar conservation.
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