Media Contacts
Cat Lazaroff
Communications Director
(202)
772-3270
Not a journalist but need help? Contact our Member Services
team:
1-800-385-9712
Sign up for our Press List
Get Defenders Headlines
Get the latest wildlife conservation news and information... right when we post it online.
For Immediate Release
• Defenders of Wildlife • Northern Jaguar Project • Naturalia
Private Reserve Established to Save America's Jaguar
New bi-national effort will protect endangered jaguars and other imperiled species along U.S-Mexico border
TUCSON, Ariz. – Jaguars in the U.S./Mexico borderlands have a newly protected home today thanks to the official establishment of the Northern Jaguar Reserve in Sonora, Mexico. The 45,000 acre reserve, which will help safeguard and recover the jaguar’s northern-most remaining population, is the centerpiece of a collaborative, bi-national effort led by Northern Jaguar Project, Naturalia and Defenders of Wildlife to save the endangered jaguar in the southwest United States and northern Mexico.
Once roaming throughout the American Southwest, habitat loss and direct killing have left jaguars endangered throughout their entire range. “Jaguars have experienced their most significant losses in Mexico and the United States, but by working with our Mexican neighbors we can help jaguars survive,” said Craig Miller, southwest representative of Defenders of Wildlife and vice-president of the Northern Jaguar Project. “The greatest hope for saving America’s jaguar lies in immediately protecting the northernmost remaining population. This new reserve will accomplish just that.”
“The land is perfectly suited to support North America’s largest wild cat,” said Oscar Moctezuma, director of Naturalia, a respected Mexican conservation organization that will hold title to the property. “The Northern Jaguar Reserve is a dream come true for the many people who have worked hard for its establishment and, most importantly, for the jaguar and other species that will benefit from its existence.”
With assistance from the Northern Jaguar Project, Naturalia purchased the 10,000-acre Rancho Los Pavos in 2003. Located in a region of rich and abundant biodiversity, Los Pavos was the first ranch acquired to establish this viable jaguar reserve.
Northern Jaguar Project spearheaded the $1.5 million purchase with generous contributions from more than 600 individual donors and private foundations. The final payment for the reserve ranches was made at the end of January and completes the 70-square-mile reserve. The Northern Jaguar Reserve has the highest number of jaguar occurrences in northern Mexico, including females and cubs, and hosts a wide variety of other rare wildlife species including ocelots, military macaws, bald eagles, desert tortoises, gila monsters, eared trogons and river otters.
Several successful outreach programs, including a jaguar c amera survey contest, which pays neighboring ranchers for photos of jaguars, mountain lions, ocelots and bobcats, and a Jaguar Guardian stewardship program, have helped to bring the region’s ranching community on board as a partner in the recovery and preservation efforts of the jaguar and other wildlife.
The vast, remote reserve boasts a small research field station supporting first-ever inventories of birds, mammals, butterflies and plant species in northern jaguar habitat. The results of this research will help guide landscape-level management and conservation strategies to help preserve the region’s unique wildlife. Studies of jaguars at the reserve could also inform land management in the United States to help address obstacles to jaguar dispersal and re-colonization of suitable habitats in Arizona and New Mexico.
“Despite the serious problems the new border wall creates for jaguar survival, the new Northern Jaguar Reserve creates a stronghold to help support the remaining jaguar population until a time when our border policies reflect our shared responsibilities for managing wildlife and habitat in partnership with our Mexican neighbors,” said Diana Hadley, president of the Northern Jaguar Project. “The Northern Jaguar Reserve presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to save this remarkable animal.”
Learn more about what Defenders is doing to save the jaguar.
###
Defenders of Wildlife is dedicated to the protection of all native animals and plants in their natural communities. With more than 1 million members and activists, Defenders of Wildlife is a leading advocate for innovative solutions to safeguard our wildlife heritage for generations to come. For more information, visit www.defenders.org.
Northern Jaguar Project is a Tucson-based non-profit organization comprised of U.S. and Mexican scientists and conservationists leading a collaborative, bi-national effort to conserve the world's northernmost jaguars on both sides of the US-Mexico border.
Naturalia is one of Mexico's most progressive non-profit conservation organizations dedicated to preserving Mexico's remaining wilderness and endangered wildlife.
