Arizona Loves Jaguars!

I don't know how I missed this a few days back, but here's another pro-predator opinion in the Arizona Republic. The piece really nails the Fish and Wildlife Service for being under the thumb of a security-crazed Bush Administration:

Here's the political rub. If jaguars are going to re-establish themselves in Arizona and New Mexico, they need what scientists call "habitat connectivity." That means the jaguars have to be able to cross the border, and that means plans for a border fence would complicate any recovery plan.

It's politically easier for Fish and Wildlife not to put itself in direct conflict with the Department of Homeland Security.

Yes, and we all remember how they avoided conflict and destroyed the San Pedro River connectivity just last fall. Thanks again for that! But uh-oh, now the opinion piece treads in dangerous territory- by comparing the jaguar recovery to the Mexican wolf:

One reason cited was the fact that much of the jaguar population is in Mexico. This is unconvincing.

The entire population of endangered Mexican wolves lived in Mexico when the recovery effort for that animal began.

Clearly, the answer would be to retract the recovery plan for the Mexican wolf too, don't you think?