Judge orders feds to reconsider help for jaguar

[Judi Lynn]

Judge orders feds to reconsider help for jaguar

By ARTHUR H. ROTSTEIN / Associated Press Writer

Published: March 31st, 2009 04:11 PM
Last Modified: March 31st, 2009 04:12 PM

TUCSON, Ariz. - A judge on Tuesday ordered federal wildlife officials to reconsider how to help endangered jaguars survive, saying the decision to not protect habitat for them was based on bad criteria and inconsistent with the Endangered Species Act.

The largest cats native to the Western hemisphere live primarily in Mexico, Central and South America. But they're known to roam in southern Arizona and New Mexico, and one was captured for the first time southeast of Tucson last month.

The Interior Department abandoned a recovery plan for the endangered species in 2008 after concluding too few of the cats had been spotted to warrant it. Its agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, contends U.S. land represents less than 1 percent of the species' range, so its survival depends on other nations.

U.S. District Judge John Roll said in his ruling that Fish and Wildlife did not use the best scientific evidence available in not establishing critical habitat for the species. He also cited inconsistency with the Endangered Species Act's mandate, Fish and Wildlife's own regulations and relevant case law.

"Denying the jaguar protection because it is overly endangered is an oxymoron," said Michael Robinson, a spokesman for the Center for Biological Diversity, a plaintiff in the lawsuit. "That was the essence of the government's plan, that there are so few jaguars that they don't need a recovery plan. And the judge saw right through that."

More:
http://www.adn.com/nation/story/743318.html

[Turbineguy]

1. Good