Groups seek land for jaguars

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Environmentalists are asking the federal government to set aside an area of the Southwest more than half the size of California to help protect the endangered jaguar.

The area proposed as critical habitat by the Center for Biological Diversity would represent one of the largest swaths of land set aside for any single species, spanning more than 53 million acres across New Mexico, Arizona, Southern California and West Texas.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is evaluating what the elusive cats need to survive and areas in the Southwest where they would have the best chance. The agency has acknowledged “physical and biological features” in the region that can be used by jaguars.

The largest cats native to the Western hemisphere, jaguars live primarily in Mexico, Central and South America. They once inhabited an extensive area that spanned California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Louisiana, but there have been only rare glimpses of the animals along U.S.-Mexico border in recent years.

The Fish and Wildlife Service decided this year to set aside critical habitat for the jaguar, but indications show that amount of land will be far less than what environmentalists want.