1/5/10

It’s a new year for all of us, but 2010 could also be the year that we bring endangered jaguars back to the American Southwest where they belong.

Defenders is kicking off a new year of advocacy for the jaguar -- and we need your help to turn things around for these magnificent wild cats before it’s too late.

To jumpstart our efforts, we’re mounting an exciting grassroots campaign to raise awareness about the plight of the American jaguar and put public pressure on our leaders to make jaguar recovery a priority.

If you haven’t made your New Year’s resolution yet -- or simply want to do more for wildlife this year, please join other conservationists in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas who want to help bring jaguars back to their rightful home in the U.S. by signing up to be a part of our new citizen media team for jaguars -- Team Jag!

Despite their tropical associations, jaguars once lived in the American Southwest as far north as the Grand Canyon. Sadly, they were mostly killed off in the U.S. by the early 1900s and are considered endangered throughout their entire range (all the way down to Patagonia).

You might remember hearing about a well-known jaguar -- Macho B -- that had been spotted in Arizona for more than a decade. Though Macho B died last year, his memory is a powerful reminder of a time when jaguars were more plentiful, and a hopeful sign that -- with help from caring people like you -- they can and will return to their rightful home.

Under the Bush administration, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) refused to write a recovery plan for American jaguars. But after Defenders took the government to court, a federal judge ruled that our jaguars deserve the full protection of the Endangered Species Act and ordered the FWS to reconsider its initial refusal to protect these incredibly rare cats.

While we await this new decision, the jaguar’s future hangs in the balance. That’s why we’re reaching out to you now, to ask you to make helping to restore jaguars one of your New Year’s resolutions in 2010.

Here's how it works: just click here to join Team Jag right now, and we’ll contact you when there’s an opportunity to build support for jaguar recovery in your community by writing a letter to the editor of your local newspaper or helping to be a voice for jaguars on the radio or online. It’s that simple.

Working together, we can help change the debate and put pressure on the federal government to make up for lost time -- and begin working to save jaguars from extinction now before it’s too late.

So what are you waiting for? Please join Team Jag today to give jaguars a tomorrow in the American Southwest.

For the Wild Ones,