The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has come up with a new rule for the recovery of endangered jaguars. They have designated a critical habitat for the jaguars in southern New Mexico and Arizona.

The habitat includes more than 764,000 acres in southwestern New Mexico and Pima, Santa Cruz and Cochise counties in Arizona. It comprises of six units that has one or more mountain ranges where jaguars have been spotted in recent years. Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity thinks that it is a very important step for their recovery.

The designated habitat will provide a safe place to live in for jaguars. After tigers and lions, Panthera onca, is the third-largest cat in the world. Since 1982, very few jaguars, all males, have been detected in the US.

Things are even worse for females and breeding pairs in the US. It is said that for over 50 years, no female or breeding pair has occurred in the country. But in Mexico, jaguars live and they have been seen there.

As per the IUCN Red List, jaguars are categorized as Near Threatened. Clearing of forests, killing of jaguars to protect livestock and draining of wetlands are considered some of many reasons for the disappearance of jaguars.

Conservationists have welcomed the decision and said the protected habitat will allow jaguars to naturally repopulate their former range. "I'm hopeful that decades from now we'll look back on this historic decision and see it as the first on-the-ground action that eventually led to the return of a thriving population", said Robinson.

The critical habitat designation has made it clear that it would be completely illegal for any federal agency to fund for activities like mining that can harm jaguar.

Taylor Jones, endangered species advocate for WildEarth Guardians said they want the Service to take next steps soon so that jaguar population is reestablished in the US.