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Use the following addresses to send your comments to the Arizona and New Mexico Game Commissions regarding the Jaguar Conservation Plan. See below for the sample letter.

AZ Game Commission

W. Hays Gilstrap, Chairman - Phoenix

Dennis D. Manning, Vice Chairman - Alpine

Michael M. Golightly, Member - Flagstaff

Joe Carter, Member - Safford

Susan E. Chilton, Member - Arivaca

Arizona Game & Fish Commission

C/OArizona Game & Fish Department

2221 W. Greenway Rd., Phoenix, AZ 85023-4399

NM Game Commission

Steven C. Emery, Chairman

13223 Jo Lane NE

Albuquerque, NM 87111

Bud Hettinga

P.O. Box 2409

Las Cruces, NM 88004

Steve Padilla

1641 Speakman S. E.

Albuquerque, NM 87123

George Ortega

2908 Calle De Pinos Altos

Santa Fe, NM 87505

Stephen E. Doerr

2106 Aspen

Portales, NM 88130

Ray Westall

POB 4

Loco Hills, NM 88255

 J. Karen Stevens

5207 Villa View Drive

Farmington, NM 87402

Adapt this letter or better compose your own.

January 23, 2001

[Name] {Use Name and Address from above.}

Re: Jaguar Conservation Plan

Dear ________________,

These comments are being submitted by the Arizona Counties, Apache, Cochise, Gila, Graham, Greenlee and Navajo and the New Mexico Counties, Catron, Chaves, Eddy, Harding, Hidalgo, Lincoln, Luna, Otero, Rio Arriba, Sierra, and Socorro along with representation from the timber, farming, livestock, mining, small business, sportsman and outfitter industries as members of the Coalition of Arizona/ New Mexico Counties (Coalition). Our representation currently exceeds 592,923 in combined county populations.

For the past three years, Coalition member counties, individual land owners and affiliate organizations have been participating in the development of the Jaguar Conservation Plan (JCP) as members of the Conservation Team (CT).

These comments are meant to express the Coalition’s position on future directions for the Jaguar conservation strategy in Arizona and New Mexico. The current effort was born out of a concern for the listing of the Jaguar. While the conservation plan did not prevent the listing, the Coalition continues to support conservation efforts.

On September 12, 2000 the CT submitted questions to the Scientific Advisory Group (SAG) to assist them in development of the plan. On October 25 the SAG responded with recommendations for Jaguar protection in the two states.

Of note from the report are the following points:

•The southwest is on the fringes of the jaguar's northern most boundary. It also indicates that during the Recent Epoch era (10,000 years ago - present) jaguars were reduced to their present range (South America to Northern Mexico).

•Suggests that jaguars were driven from the Southwestern portion of their former range with the arrival of the lion. They speculate that lions were better adapted to the northern environment, and, although the jaguar had an advantage in the neotropical forests of Central and South America because of its body size and limb length, these same attributes might have become a hindrance when competing with the lions in North America.

•Spotted cats are mentioned and artistically depicted in some of the native lore of the Southwest. However, such a powerful animal would have been an important totem to Native Americans, yet, they do not appear on recent artifacts. This leads one to conclude that by 500 years ago, jaguars had already been driven out by lions.

•It was made very clear that the SAG consider the most important habitat for jaguar to be in the Amazon Basin.

•A report entitled "Jaguar Habitat In Southern Arizona and New Mexico", written by Tony Povilitis, Sierra Institute, and his students, was submitted to the SAG for their review. The SAG concluded that the jaguar should not be reintroduced into the Southwestern U.S. They based their recommendations on a host of reasons, including:

•Reintroduction would be expensive and inferior to studying the existing populations in Sonora, Mexico.

•Homing behavior suggests translocation of jaguars will cause the animal to return to their original home ranges. Siting a report on lions, where 9 out of 14 translocated animals died returning to their home range (Ruth et al. 1998), the scientists felt this rate of loss would be unacceptable for jaguars.

•The jaguar situation should be stabilized in Latin America first. They felt capturing and moving animals would only further deplete the existing jaguar population.

Regarding a captive breeding proposal, also submitted in the Povilitis report, the SAG had the following comments and recommendations:

•Such a program is expensive in time, space and money

•Captive breeding tends to erode genetics and learned behavior traits.

•Captive bred animals raised in contact with humans are more likely to engage in human and livestock encounters than wild-caught animals (Beldon and McCown, 1996). If such traits were passed from mother jaguar to young, it would not produce a climate sensitive to jaguar conservation.

•The released captive born jaguars would not likely live long enough to produce data on habitat use, and/or the data might not reflect the actual needs of wild jaguars.

•Although the SAG avoids directly answering the question of whether habitat exists in the U.S. they suggest the jaguars might be able to colonize the Southwest if the animal could find its niche. A niche being defined as the "entire suite of resources with which an animal interacts to survive and reproduce".

•The SAG does site a lack of knowledge regarding the dominant plant forms and physical structures jaguars will be using if, and when, they enter the U.S. They conclude further study of jaguar in Sonora be given the highest priority in order to understand whether habitat in the U.S. exists, or not.

•In spite of this lack of information, the SAG suggests that "modeling" for jaguar habitat should continue.

•In the Habitat Subcommittee meeting in Douglas, Arizona on December 12, 2000, and again in the Conservation Team meeting in Douglas on January 18th, Jim Hatten, Arizona Game and Fish Department GIS specialist, gave a presentation on these "modeling" efforts. He cautioned; 1) many habitat components for the jaguar are hard to define due to the scarcity of data, 2) this makes quantitative GIS-based modeling difficult, 3) his "modeling" efforts for the jaguar are unlike any other modeling efforts he has been involved with for the Department, 4) this particular modeling effort could be more accurately classified as a land use/land cover analysis, and 5) Mr. Hatten agreed with the Scientific Advisory Group that conservation efforts should begin in Mexico. Many members on the CT have also emphasized this same strategy for at least two years.

•As stated above, the Coalition agrees conserving the Jaguar is important. However, taking undue, unnecessary, and unjustified conservation measures to protect a species that everyone agrees, randomly wanders into the U.S. is unprecedented. Our participating member counties, individual land owners and affiliate organizations have been working with educators over the last three years to develop an educational curriculum. This effort has produced an excellent tool to educate our youth and general populations.

Based on the reasons presented above the Coalition recommends:

1) An Accounting of funds already expended on this project should be initiated; and

2) A wildlife biologist studying and interested in jaguar conservation should be found. He should work with a professor of wildlife biology to study the jaguars in Mexico; and

3) Money currently being expended should be diverted by the Commissioners, in both New Mexico and Arizona, to support an academic study of jaguar in Mexico. (Raul Valdez, NMSU, is currently doing such research in New Mexico);and

4) Any further conservation measures in both states should be suspended until sufficient data has been obtained from Mexico; and

5) Fully fund publication and distribution of the Jaguar educational curriculum.

As in the past, the Coalition stands ready to support the Arizona and New Mexico Commissions and Departments in protecting and enhancing the wildlife populations in both states. We hope the recommendations made here will assist in furtherance of Jaguar conservation.

Sincerely,

Howard Hutchinson, Executive Director

xc: Arizona and New Mexico Governors and Congressional Delegations and Coalition Board