The southwestern United States and Sonora, Mexico are the extreme northern limits of the jaguar’s (Panthera onca) range, which primarily extends from central Mexico south through Central and South America to northern Argentina. Recently, the jaguar ranged as far north as Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. Over the last century, the jaguar’s range has been reduced to approximately 46% of its historic range due to hunting pressure and habitat loss. The greatest loss of occupied range has occurred in the southern United States, northern Mexico, northern Brazil, and southern Argentina. Since 1900, jaguars have been documented occasionally in the southwestern United States, but the number of sightings per decade has declined over the last 100 years with only 4 verified sightings between 1970 and 2000. The objectives of our analysis were twofold: (1) characterize potential jaguar habitat in Arizona from historic sighting records, and (2) create a statewide habitat suitability map.

Mounted black and white photograph with a typescript annotation, "July 17 1914. Making the trip down Bright Angel trail at the Grand Canyon of Arizona on mules. Left to right: George H. N. Luhrs, Jr., unknown, George H. N. Luhrs, Emma Luhrs, Ella Luhrs. Bright Angel Trail to the Colorado River, at bottom on canyon."

Black and white print with members of the Luhrs family. Typescript annotation, "July 17th, 1914. Going down Bright Angel Canyon of Arizona, Those on the mules, from bottom up: unknown, unknown, Ella Luhrs, Emma Luhrs, George H. N. Luhrs, unknown, Roger Hunt, George Luhrs Jr., Catherine Margarita 'Gretchen' (Mrs Geo H. N.) Luhrs standing beside George Luhrs Jr." Beside the trail, a sign displays, "Photo by Kolb Brothers."