subject: The Jaguar- Threatened with Extinction [print this page] On a trip to Mexico, I had the unique experience to play with a baby jaguar! Beautiful creature and amazing to interact with! I was disappointed to learn that like many species roaming the globe today, the jaguar is considered to be "near threatened" by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. This means that it may become extinct in the future. There are many contributing factors of which humans play a large role. Some factors include: poaching, deforestation, being killed by ranchors for preying on livestock, competition with humans for food, and hurricanes in the northern part of its range. Their range extends from Mexico to South America to northern Argentina and South to Paraguay. In the US there is a breeding ground in Arizona, southeast of Tucson. In many parts of the world where Jaguars roam, trophy hunting is illegal, however it is still allowed in Bolivia and there is nolegal protection for them in Ecuador and Guyana. The United States government has made some poor decisions for self-fulfilling purposes in my opinion in regards to the safety of thesemajestic animals. As jaguars typically cross between the US and Mexico, the government was building a border fence and they were getting in the way. Sadly, On January 7, 2008, the US Fish and Wildlife Service Director, H. Dale Hall (under the Bush Administration), removed from the Endangered Species Act a federal goal aimed at jaguar recovery. Typical and disappointing to say the least! My point in this blog is to highlight anotheramazing animal that we have the privelage of seeing while it's still here. Really just to raise awareness of yet another creature that because of a lack of compassion and a need to personally progress may disappear in the future.
