THE BLACK JAGUAR AS AN ENDANGERED SPECIES

The term “black panther” may be applied to several types of great cat, but in the Amazon it refers to jaguars. Not a separate species, but a rare color variant, black jaguars are powerful hunters and play a vital role within their ecosystem. Like all jaguars, these carnivores are masters of ambush, and it is thought that their dark color adaptation might aid these cats in their hunting. Unfortunately, like all jaguars, this color variation of the species is just as susceptible to threats like habitat loss.

                                                                          These jaguar are mainly found in the area's

 the equatorial rainforest of Malaya and the tropical rainforest on the slopes of some African mountains such as Mount Kenya.They are also common in Java, and are reported from densely foreste area of southwester China, Myanmar, Assamand Nepal, from Travancore and other parts of southern India where they may be more numerous than spotted leopards. One was recorded in the equatorial forest of Cameroon.

Endangered Status

The jaguar was first deemed endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1994. The United States was the last of the Americas to make this determination. The situation was reassessed in 2006 and remains the same. The plight of the black jaguar is even more severe because, though dominant, they are still more rare. The Federal Endangered Species Act prohibits the killing of black jaguars as well as the importation and/or sale of their fur. Violations for capturing, injuring, killing and transporting jaguars or their fur start around $1,500 and can reach close to $100,000, with repeated instances resulting in possible imprisonment.

Conservation

There are varying efforts in the different states and countries still home to black jaguars. Since there is no known breeding population in the United States, maintaining the existing big cats is the goal. In each state, once all of the numbers and facts about the existing jaguar population are compiled, spreading awareness and promoting protection is the main goal. This includes letting people know about both the benefits of having the cats in the area as well as the repercussions to anyone who chooses to ignore their federal protection. With the rarity of the black jaguar and the demand for their pelts, the area that has to be policed the most is the fur trade, which garners much more income locally and internationally than most fines would greatly impact. Each country and US state home to jaguars, including Arizona, California, Louisiana, New Mexico and Texas, has its own set of efforts designed to save this big cat from extinction and to promote its conservation. In the US, the black jaguar is even more rare due to the lack of forest in its native states, but sightings are documented, most recently from California, Texas and Arizona.l