Known for their strong swimming abilities, the jaguar is one of the few cats
besides tigers that enjoy water. They often prefer to live by rivers, swamps,
and in dense forest with thick cover for stalking prey. They are the largest
carnivore in the Western Hemisphere. Jaguars, on rare occasions, are seen as far
north as the southwestern United States, particularly in Arizona, New Mexico and
Texas. In the early 1900s, the jaguars' range actually extended as far north as
Southern California and western Texas. As recently as 2004, wildlife officials
in Arizona have photographed and documented jaguars in the southern parts of the
state. Presently it is unclear whether recent sightings indicate whether there
is a permanent population developing in the Southwest or that these cats are
simply transients straying over the border from Sonora, Mexico. However, jaguars
are a protected species in the United States under the Endangered Species Act
and are considered nongame, therefore making it illegal to shoot a jaguar for
its pelt. Fossils of jaguars from as far north as Missouri confirm these cats
inhabited much of the Southern U.S. during prehistoric times. These prehistoric
jaguars were significantly larger than the jaguars of today.
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