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Providing safe passage for jaguars back into the U.S. is as easy as resolving human-wildlife conflict. Hmm... More >

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It's taken more than 60 years but jaguars have finally started making their way back to what once was the northernmost part of their range - the American southwest. Where have they been? South of the border, 120 miles south to be exact, in the Mexican state of Sonora, where those who escaped hunting were driven by development and agriculture in the 1940's. But now habitat loss in Mexico, conflict with Mexican cattle ranchers and national security activities along the U.S.-Mexico border are presenting a new set of challenges that could jeopardize a happy homecoming for these endangered cats.

The Philadelphia Zoo has joined the collective efforts of Naturalia, A.C., the Northern Jaguar Project and the Wildlands Project to find ways of reconciling jaguar habitat needs with the social, economic and political needs of the United States and Mexico. The Mexico Jaguar Project, one of the Zoo's newest conservation initiatives, is working to bring jaguars home safely.

Habitat loss continues to top the list of issues facing most endangered species and has been responsible for snuffing out entire populations. The jaguar is no exception. Of the estimated 15,000 remaining in the wild, the Aros-Yaqui population found in Sonora, Mexico numbers less than 100, yet represents the largest breeding jaguar population found in this part of their range. This group is the source of a handful of animals that have gradually started to disperse and make rare appearances in the American southwest.

Oscar Moctezuma O., general director of the Mexico-based conservation group Naturalia, A.C., is responding to the jaguar's habitat needs. A refuge was created in 2003, when Naturalia purchased Los Pavos ranch, a property comprising core jaguar habitat. Plans are currently underway to expand Los Pavos with the additional purchase of Rancho Zetasora, a single property consisting of three separate ranches. If successful, this acquisition will result in the protection of close to 50,000 acres of critical jaguar habitat in northern Mexico. Access to a larger study site will also benefit valuable research efforts on jaguar abundance and land use patterns already being conducted at Los Pavos Ranch. Data gained from these Philadelphia Zoo-funded studies will be vital to learning more about jaguar habitat needs and will help to identify important travel routes for jaguars returning to the U.S.

The Northern Jaguar Project (NJP) is working on several research fronts to gather information needed to create a map of the migration routes, or "corridors," used by jaguars moving north from Mexico to the United States. Jaguars are solitary predators with home ranges of anywhere from 500 to only a few square miles, depending upon the abundance of prey species. As their habitat continues to shrink on both sides of the border, the protection of jaguar corridors and the sites they connect has become paramount to their survival.

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