Can anyone say immigration reform?

These are beautiful creatures !!!

Are those things native to that area?

They are not native to the area. However, I have heard of sightings IN the US over the past few years.

RJ your argument doesn't follow. Diversity is good.
I would expect southern species to advance northward as climate change ensues, I have seen it in other species, why wouldn't it hold true with Jaguars too. I know all you denialists are out there claiming global warming is fiction because you have snow on your doorsteps but this is just one more piece of evidence. I don't think I'll see any big spotty kitties this far north, although I have heard local reports of a catamount (supposedly extinct here since 1900). My sheep and goats spend nights in the barn anyway...

Their nativeness to Arizona is open to debate. In the past they've been seen here. There's no archaeological evidence for them. Probably their movement into the area corresponds with the movement of the javelina (collared peccary)... those weren't in Arizona until the 1700s or 1800s as far as anyone can tell. So the jags followed the javelina in my view. They're not needed here. Their niche role as apex pred is already filled by mtn lions, coyotes, and humans. I think it'd be good if AZGFD would suspend efforts to encourage them to return.

The Jag in AZ died of kidney failure. It was caught and a radio collar was placed on it, later it was caught again and found to have kidney failure and was put to sleep because it could not be released. The environmentalists claim it was "murder" but why would the AZ game and fish purposely kill a Jag? They are native to AZ and to say they no longer live in AZ would be pretty impossible because they just cannot be found. Rarely would even the biologists find one! They are made to not be found. They would go years without seeing one and a hunter would stumble across one. They are rare but only god knows how many there are in AZ. I trust the AZ game and fish more than eniviros and politicians. They are beautiful animals.

RJ I would agree with your argument only on the Wolf subject. Grizzlies and Mountain Lions fit well in the ecosystems and don't disrupt much. Canadian Wolf imports don't. Leopards are so few and kill only what they will eat, I would welcome them although I would never be able to see one. I don't see the leopards, grizzly bears or mountain lions hurting our hunting future (As long as we have smart game management). PS-I live around grizzlies, Mtn Lions and wolves and also lived in southern AZ in the past.

Yes, could probably do well in any of the southern states that are not a complete desert.

Jaguars are indisputably native to the United States. Some simple research confirms that there are numerous scientific records and papers detailing native populations in the United States that were wiped out by the early 1900's. The idea that Jaguars only came to the US in the 1700/1800's is nonsensical - they came over to the Americas via the Siberian Land bridge and, as such, their expansion was from the north to the south. Native American culture in the United States celebrated the Jaguar prior to and after the arrival of the Spanish, which refutes the 1700/1800 immigration "theory." Even in declining to list the Jaguar as an endangered species (upon sightings in the mid-90's), the EPA acknowledged that the Jaguar is native to the U.S.: "As the July 22, 1997, listing rule (62 FR 39147) discusses, jaguars in the United States historically occurred in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and possibly Louisiana. The last jaguar sightings in California, Texas, and Louisiana were documented in the late 1800s or early 1900s. While jaguars have been documented as far north as the Grand Canyon, sightings in the late 20th century to the present have occurred mainly along the international boundary of the United States and Mexico." - http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-SPECIES/2006/July/Day-12/e10644.htm

Whoops... I meant South America.... not Africa..that would be the Leopards domain.

Rozols, before you dismiss someone else's opinion en toto you need to do a little research. Not one single pleistocene age jaguar has been found in North America. Nor are there any jaguars of paleontological origin or historical record in Asia. That doesn't mean that it is impossible that they evolved in southeast Asia, but the odds against it are pretty long, given the complete absence of any evidence of an Asian orgin for them. In turn, it follows that migration across the Bering land bridge is unlikely. A more likely genesis is that they evolved from some South American ancestral form during the Miocene or Pliocene.

As to their nativeness to the United States. It has already been noted that there is a historical record of a very small number of them in the US southwest. There is no archaeological record of them, however, so the evidence does NOT support much time depth to their presence here.

The javelina is a known 17th century migrant whose origins are in the tropics. The jaguar is likewise a tropical cat with a classic tropical dapple pattern of a rainforest species. Therefore, the idea that the jaguars followed the javelina into the US southwest is not only *NOT* "nonsensical" (as you quite inaccurately phrased it), it is in fact the most plausible theory available at the moment, given the actual archaeological and paleontological record.

Are they sure the drug cartels havn't been training them to be mules? HaHa
I'm sure the Jaguars are feeling the pressure of exspanding resorts,farms and ranches in the south.So when you camping down in Arizona remember to sleep in a tree.

Macho "C" !? Beautiful cat. Hope it doesn't run afoul of the Anglos!

i would love to see these in the wild but thats just me

i bet this cat stays close to the border. where slse could it get so many free and easy meals? unless it goes to the peoples republic.