Jaguars, the largest wild cats in the Americas, are present in the United States, though extremely rare. These predators once roamed extensively across the American Southwest. Their limited presence today connects to their historical range and ongoing conservation efforts.
The Jaguar’s Historic Range and Decline
Historically, jaguars inhabited a vast area of the Southwestern United States, with their range extending across Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and even into parts of California and Louisiana. A significant decline in their numbers began in the 19th and early 20th centuries, leading to their near disappearance from the U.S. landscape.
Several factors contributed to this reduction. Government-sponsored predator control programs and individual hunting campaigns targeted jaguars, viewing them as threats to livestock. This direct persecution, coupled with widespread habitat loss and fragmentation, severely impacted jaguar populations. As human settlements expanded, agricultural development and ranching reduced their natural hunting grounds and isolated remaining groups. The last known female jaguar in the U.S. was killed in Arizona in 1963, signaling the effective extirpation of a breeding population.
Current Presence and Known Habitats
Currently, jaguars are found in the United States, primarily within the Sky Island mountain ranges of southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico. These sightings almost exclusively involve individual male jaguars dispersing northward from established populations in Sonora, Mexico. There has been no confirmed breeding population of jaguars in the U.S. for many decades.
One recognized individual was “El Jefe,” an adult male first recorded in Arizona’s Whetstone Mountains in November 2011. He was photographed in the Santa Rita Mountains, becoming the only wild jaguar verified in the U.S. after Macho B’s death. More recently, new individual jaguars have been detected via camera traps in 2023 and 2024, indicating continued dispersal across the border. The extreme rarity of these animals makes their presence confirmation challenging, often relying on remote sensing technologies.
Conservation Status and Efforts
The jaguar holds endangered species status in the United States, listed under the Endangered Species Act since 1972, with domestic populations added in 1992. This designation provides legal protections aimed at their recovery. Critical habitat for the jaguar was designated in 2014, encompassing approximately 764,207 acres in Pima, Santa Cruz, and Cochise Counties, Arizona, and Hidalgo County, New Mexico.
Portions of this critical habitat designation have faced legal challenges, resulting in some areas being removed due to court orders. As of May 2024, approximately 640,124 acres of designated critical habitat remain in Arizona. Jaguar conservation also focuses on maintaining and restoring wildlife corridors connecting U.S. and Mexican jaguar populations, though border infrastructure presents a challenge by potentially impeding natural movement. Research and monitoring, often utilizing camera traps, are ongoing to better understand jaguar movements and habitat use in the borderlands. The long-term goal for jaguar recovery in the U.S. centers on facilitating natural recolonization from Mexico.