Border Fence and the Endangered Species – Part 5

Two wildcats will be highly impacted by the fence; they are the jaguar and the ocelot.

The one which will be devastated most by the fence is the endangered jaguar; a species that most people probably do not even know is native to the U.S. In 1997, the Jaguar Conservation Team (JAGCT) was created by the Arizona Game and Fish Department to study the animal and to establish conservation practices to be applied in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands.

Based on the JAGCT study, the movement corridors “probably include a variety of riparian-dominated lowland and upland habitats that connect some of the isolated mountains and foothills in this [southeast Arizona and southwest New Mexico] region”. The jaguar is a wide-ranging and territorial species, their movements covering areas up to 500 miles and requiring territories of a few square miles with adequate prey to survive.

In the late 1900s, the species were believed to be locally extinct in the U.S. but two different reports in 1996 proved that jaguars are still ‘hanging on’ in their northern range. Since 1972, the jaguar has been listed in the ESA. Conservation efforts were put in place to protect their habitat in the borderlands.

Prior to the two reports in 1996, six other sightings around the borderlands were reported between 1971 and 1993. Although only a few individuals are known to be present in the Arizona and New Mexico area, the range is critical for providing the additional preferred habitat for the species. A fence in the borderland will definitely close off any possibility of northern expansion.

Another wild cat that will be affected is the endangered ocelot which was added to the ESA in 1972. In the 60s and 70s, ocelots were relentlessly hunted for their fur. Today, like the jaguar, the biggest threat to their survival is habitat destruction. The Texas subspecies, Texas Ocelot, was once common throughout Texas and Mexico.

However, current estimation suggests that only 1000 individuals remains, less than 100 of those live in the south Texas brush country and lower Rio Grande valley. Similar to the jaguar, ocelot is a territorial species; male ocelots disperse widely in search of new home range.

To help ocelots recover from population decline, the Binational Ocelot Recovery Project was set up to expand core habitat as well as to create cross-border corridor to let the Texas ocelots breed with their Mexican counterparts. Without a doubt, the fence will put a stop to the recovery project and crush any recovery results accomplished so far.