Jaguar

Photo By: USFWS

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently proposed designating nearly 840,000 acres of the Southwestern U.S. as critical habitat for jaguar, which were declared endangered 15 years ago, though the have been virtually absent from U.S. territory for decades. The area is bigger than Rhode Island, though less than the animal's orginal range.

“Jaguars once roamed across the United States, from California to Louisiana, but have been virtually extinct here since the 1950s,” said Kierán Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, which has worked for almost 20 years to bring back American jaguars. “Today's habitat proposal will ensure North America's largest cat returns to the wild mountains and deserts of the Southwest. Jaguars are a spectacular part of our natural heritage and belong to every American — just as surely as bald eagles, wolves and grizzly bears."

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