[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 244 (Tuesday, December 20, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 92845-92847]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-30584]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R2-ES-2016-N121; FXES11130200000C2-XXX-FF02ENEH00]


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Jaguar Draft 
Recovery Plan

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the 
availability of our draft recovery plan for the jaguar, which is listed 
as endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended 
(Act). This species is currently found in 19 countries ranging from the 
United States to Argentina. The draft recovery plan includes specific 
recovery objectives and criteria to be met to enable us to remove this 
species from the list of endangered and threatened wildlife and plants. 
We request review and comment on this plan from local, State, and 
Federal agencies; Tribes; and the public. We will also accept any new 
information on the status of the jaguar throughout its range to assist 
in finalizing the recovery plan.

DATES: To ensure consideration, we must receive written comments on or 
before March 20, 2017. However, we will accept information about any 
species at any time.

ADDRESSES: If you wish to review the draft recovery plan, you may 
obtain a copy by any one of the following methods:
    Internet: Access the file at either web address below http://ecos.fws.gov/ecp0/profile/speciesProfile?spcode=A040 (scroll down to 
Recovery) https://www.fws.gov/southwest/es/arizona/Jaguar.htm (click 
Recovery Planning)
    U.S. mail: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Arizona Ecological 
Services Office, 9828 North 31st Avenue, #C3, Phoenix, AZ 85051-2517; 
or
    Telephone: (602) 242-0210.
    If you wish to comment on the draft recovery plan, you may submit 
your comments in writing by any one of the following methods:
     U.S. mail: Jaguar Recovery Coordinator, at the Phoenix, 
AZ, address;
     Hand-delivery: Arizona Ecological Services Office, at the 
Phoenix, AZ, address;
     Fax: (602) 242-2513; or
     Email: [email protected].
    For additional information about submitting comments, see the 
``Request for Public Comments'' section below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steve Spangle, Project Leader Arizona 
Ecological Services, at the above address and phone number, or by email 
at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    Recovery of endangered or threatened animals and plants to the 
point where they are again secure, self-sustaining members of their 
ecosystems is a primary goal of our endangered species program and the 
Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). Recovery means improving the listed 
species' status to the point at which listing is no longer appropriate 
under the criteria set out in section 4(a)(1) of the Act. The Act 
requires developing recovery plans for listed species, unless such a 
plan would not promote the conservation of a particular species. The 
jaguar was addressed in ``Listed Cats of Texas and Arizona Recovery 
Plan (with Emphasis on the Ocelot)'' (1990), but only general 
information and recommendations to assess jaguar status in the United 
States

[[Page 92846]]

and Mexico, and protect and manage occupied and potential habitat in 
the United States, were presented. No specific recovery recommendations 
or objectives for the jaguar were provided. In 2007, the USFWS made a 
determination under section 4(f)(1) of the Act that developing a formal 
recovery plan at this time would not promote jaguar conservation. The 
rationale for this determination was that for the purposes of formal 
recovery planning, the jaguar qualifies as an exclusively foreign 
species (see Memorandum for details at http://www.fws.gov/southwest/es/arizona/Documents/SpeciesDocs/Jaguar/Exclusion%20from%20Recovery%20Planning.pdf). The Service was 
subsequently litigated on this determination and the presiding judge 
remanded the decision regarding recovery planning back to the Service. 
Subsequently, in 2010, the Service made a new determination that 
developing a recovery plan would contribute to jaguar conservation and, 
therefore, the Service should prepare a recovery plan (http://www.fws.gov/southwest/es/arizona/Documents/SpeciesDocs/Jaguar/JaguarRPmemo1-12-10.pdf).

Species History

    The jaguar is fully protected at the national level across most of 
its range and is recognized by a number of Federal, State, and 
international lists of protected species. The species was listed as 
endangered on March 30, 1972 (37 FR 6476), in accordance with the 
Endangered Species Conservation Act of 1969, a precursor to the Act. 
The jaguar is currently listed as an endangered species throughout its 
range under the Act, with critical habitat designated in the 
southwestern U.S. The species' current recovery priority number is 5C, 
indicating it has a high degree of threat due to habitat loss, a low 
potential for recovery, a taxonomic classification as a species, and a 
state of conflict between it and humans.
    In addition to the listing under the Act, the jaguar is fully 
protected at the national level across most of its range, and in Mexico 
is listed as endangered by the Secretar[iacute]a de Medio Ambiente y 
Recursos Naturales, or Federal Ministry of the Environment and Natural 
Resource (SEMARNAT 2010). Jaguars in Arizona are also on the Arizona 
Game and Fish Department's list of ``Species of Greatest Conservation 
Need.''
    The jaguar is the largest felid in the New World (Seymour 1989). 
Rangewide, jaguars measure about 1.5-2.4 meters (5-8 feet) from nose to 
tip of tail and weigh from 36-158 kilograms (80-348 pounds) (Seymour 
1989, Nowak 1999). Males are typically larger than females (Seymour 
1989). The overall coat of a jaguar is typically pale yellow, tan, or 
reddish yellow above, and generally whitish on the throat, belly, 
insides of the limbs, and underside of the tail, with prominent dark 
rosettes or blotches throughout (Seymour 1989).
    Jaguars historically ranged from the southern United States to 
central Argentina (Swank and Teer 1989, Caso et al. 2008). Currently, 
they range from the southwestern United States to northern Argentina, 
and are found in all countries historically occupied except for El 
Salvador and Uruguay (Zeller 2007). Tobler et al. (2013) estimate that 
more than 80 percent of the currently occupied range lies in the 
Amazon. The jaguar is thought to be extant (based on expert opinion) in 
about 11,700,000 km\2\ (4,517,395 mi\2\), which represents 61 percent 
of its historical range (Zeller 2007).
    The jaguar, as a large carnivore, is more vulnerable to extinction 
than many other land mammals. Loss of habitat, direct killing of 
jaguars, and depletion of prey are the primary factors contributing to 
its current status; the jaguar is considered to have a decreasing 
population trend according to the International Union for Conservation 
of Nature (IUCN) (Caso et al. 2008). The legal protected status in 
countries throughout its range does not appear to have secured jaguars 
in their core or corridor areas. Small and isolated jaguar populations 
do not appear to be highly persistent (Haag et al. 2010, Rabinowitz and 
Zeller 2010). Additionally, jaguars require sufficient prey, and when 
prey is overharvested, jaguars may turn to livestock to meet their 
dietary needs, resulting in retaliatory killing of jaguars by humans.
    While the recovery plan and strategy consider the jaguar throughout 
its range, the Service and Jaguar Recovery Team (JRT) focus the details 
of this recovery plan on the Northwestern Recovery Unit (NRU). The 
United States contains only a small proportion of the jaguar's range 
and habitat, and the Service has limited resources and little authority 
to address the major threats (killing and habitat destruction) to the 
jaguar's recovery outside its own borders. Also, our knowledge 
regarding the status of the species in much of its range is very 
limited, and we lack the resources and authority to coordinate large-
scale international research and recovery for the entire species. The 
management and recovery of listed species outside of United States 
borders, including the jaguar, are primarily the responsibility of the 
countries in which the species occur, with the help, as appropriate, of 
available technical and monetary assistance from the United States. 
However, we have an established relationship with Mexico to address a 
number of issues of mutual concern, including managing cross-border 
populations of rare and endangered species. Thus, it is appropriate to 
focus our efforts and resources on conservation of the jaguar in the 
northwestern part of its range (the NRU) as our contribution toward an 
international effort to conserve and recover the jaguar rangewide. We 
therefore focused this plan primarily on the NRU, which covers portions 
of the United States and Mexico, but also include recommendations for 
the Pan-American Recovery Unit (PARU), which includes the rest of the 
species' range.

Recovery Plan Goals

    The recovery goal is to ultimately delist the jaguar. To achieve 
that goal, viable jaguar populations should be secured throughout their 
range by removing, reducing, and mitigating the primary threats to the 
jaguar (habitat loss and fragmentation, illegal killing, and 
unsustainable depletion of jaguar prey resources). This will require 
protecting jaguar habitat quantity, quality, and connectivity; 
providing incentives to protect jaguars and their habitat; reducing 
human-caused mortality of jaguars, particularly retaliatory killing due 
to livestock depredation; improving, enacting, and/or enforcing 
effective laws that regulate illegal killing of jaguars, jaguar prey, 
and habitat loss; securing adequate funding to implement recovery 
actions; and maintaining and developing partnerships in the Americas, 
particularly in Mexico. These protections are needed and must remain in 
place after delisting to ensure the long-term viability of the species. 
Due to past habitat loss, it is unlikely that jaguars will be fully 
self-sustaining throughout their historical range; however, 
conservation of key jaguar habitat (including core and connective 
areas) and populations will be critical to the recovery of jaguars.
    To achieve that goal, the recovery plan for the jaguar identifies 
the following Recovery Objectives:
    (1) Ascertain the status and conservation needs of the jaguar.
    (2) Assess and maintain or improve genetic fitness, demographic 
conditions, and the health condition of the jaguar.
    (3) Assess and maintain or improve the status of native prey 
populations.
    (4) Assess, protect, and restore quantity, quality, and 
connectivity of

[[Page 92847]]

habitat to support viable populations of jaguars.
    (5) Assess, minimize, and mitigate the effects of expanding human 
development on jaguar survival and mortality where possible.
    (6) Minimize direct human-caused mortality of jaguars.
    (7) Ensure long-term jaguar conservation through adequate funding, 
public education and outreach, and partnerships.
    (8) Practice adaptive management in which recovery is monitored and 
recovery tasks are revised by the USFWS in coordination with the JRT as 
new information becomes available.
    The draft recovery plan contains recovery criteria based on 
stabilizing or improving current populations, protecting habitat, and 
reducing threats to the species. To achieve recovery criteria, various 
management actions are needed. When the status of the jaguar meets 
these criteria, the species will no longer meet the conditions of being 
endangered throughout a significant portion of its range and will no 
longer warrant listing.

Request for Public Comments

    Section 4(f) of the Act requires us to provide public notice and an 
opportunity for public review and comment during recovery plan 
development. It is also our policy to request peer review of recovery 
plans (July 1, 1994; 59 FR 34270). We will summarize and respond to the 
issues raised by the public and peer reviewers and post our responses 
on our Web site. Substantive comments may or may not result in changes 
to the recovery plan; comments regarding recovery plan implementation 
will be forwarded as appropriate to Federal or other entities so they 
can be taken into account during the course of implementing recovery 
actions. Responses to individual commenters will not be provided, but 
we will provide a summary of how we addressed substantive comments on 
our Web site (https://www.fws.gov/southwest/es/arizona/Jaguar.htm).
    We invite written comments on the draft recovery plan. In 
particular, we are interested in additional information regarding the 
current threats to the species and the costs associated with 
implementing the recommended recovery actions.
    Before we approve our final recovery plan, we will consider all 
comments we receive by the date specified in DATES. Methods of 
submitting comments are in the ADDRESSES section.

Public Availability of Comments

    Before including your address, phone number, email address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be 
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying 
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can 
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying 
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so.
    Comments and materials we receive will be available, by 
appointment, for public inspection during normal business hours at our 
office (see ADDRESSES).

References Cited

    A complete list of all references cited herein is available upon 
request from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Branch of Recovery 
(see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section).

Authority

    We developed our draft recovery plan under the authority of section 
4(f) of the Act, 16 U.S.C. 1533(f). We publish this notice under 
section 4(f) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

    Dated: November 15, 2016.
Benjamin N. Tuggle,
Regional Director, Southwest Region, Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-30584 Filed 12-19-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4333-15-P