Gulf Coast jaguarundi

This cat is larger than a normal domestic cat, but smaller than a cougar. It has been compared to a weasel and otter. Their fur is of a dark-brown or grayish color because they reside in low-light areas such as forests and thick shrubs.{{Cite book |last1=Cook |first1=Colt |url=http://hdl.handle.net/2152/31891 |title=The Ecology and Sociology of the Mission-Aransas Estuary: An Estuarine and Watershed Profile |last2=Morehead Palmer |first2=Sally |date=2012 |editor-last=Evans |editor-first=Anne |pages=141–149 |chapter=Endangered Species |doi=10.15781/T2DK79 |hdl=2152/31891 |access-date= |editor2-last=Madden |editor2-first=Kiersten |editor3-last=Morehead Palmer |editor3-first=Sally |archive-url= |archive-date= |url-status=}}{{Cite web|url=http://research.biology.arizona.edu/mosquito/willott/323/project/endcats/Jagundi.html |website=University of Arizona |title=Gulf Coast Jaguarundi }}

The Gulf Coast jaguarundi ranges from southern Texas in the United States south to Veracruz and San Luis Potosí in eastern Mexico.{{cite web |url=http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Puma%20yagouaroundi%20cacomitli |title=Puma yagouaroundi cacomitli |work=NatureServe Explorer |publisher=NatureServe |access-date=2009-01-01 }}{{Dead link|date=June 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} This cat looks like a large weasel or otter with a coat in one of three color phases: black, reddish-brown or brownish-gray.{{cite web |last=Campbell |first=Linda |date=2003 |title=Endangered and Threatened Animals of Texas |url=https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_bk_w7000_0013.pdf |url-status= |access-date=2023-08-25 |publisher=Texas Parks and Wildlife Department}} Darker varieties tend to be found in darker places, like forests, than those who are lighter in hue, which prefer more open areas.{{cite web |title=Gulf Coast jaguarundi (Puma yagouaroundi cacomitli) |url=https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/species/3945 |url-status= |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date= |work=Environmental Conservation Online System |publisher=United States Fish and Wildlife Service}} It is considered probably locally extinct in Texas and the United States as a whole by most sources, including the IUCN Red List.{{cite iucn |title=Herpailurus yagouaroundi |name-list-style=amp |author=Caso, A. |author2=de Oliveira, T. |author3=Carvajal, S.V. |date=2015 |page=e.T9948A50653167 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-2.RLTS.T9948A50653167.en |access-date=15 January 2022}}

It inhabits the Western Gulf coastal grasslands, Tamaulipan mezquital, and Tamaulipan matorral.{{cite web |url=http://www.semarnat.gob.mx/estados/nuevoleon/Documents/Recursos%20Naturales%20y%20Vida%20Silvestre/FAUNA%20SILVESTRE%20DEL%20ESTADO%20DE%20NUEVO%20LEON.pdf |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20071205032222/http://www.semarnat.gob.mx/estados/nuevoleon/Documents/Recursos%20Naturales%20y%20Vida%20Silvestre/FAUNA%20SILVESTRE%20DEL%20ESTADO%20DE%20NUEVO%20LEON.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2007-12-05 |language=Spanish |title=Fauna Silvestre Presente en el Estado de Nuevo Leon |publisher=Secretariat of the Environment and Natural Resources |access-date=2009-01-01 }} Its preferred habitat are regions of dense, thorny scrub, especially near water, composed of plants such as spiny hackberry, brazilian bluewood, desert yaupon, Berlandier's wolfberry, lotebush, Texas goatbush, whitebrush, catclaw acacia, blackbrush acacia, velvetleaf lantana, Texas lignum-vitae, cenizo, elbowbush, and Texas persimmon.

Habitat loss is the main reason for the increase in mortality for the jaguarundi. Not enough information has been gathered about the jaguarundi, and because these animals are not widely studied their significance is unclear.{{Cite web|title=Jaguarundi: Herpailuras yagouaroundi ESA status: endangered|url=https://pdf.wildearthguardians.org/support_docs/critical%20_habitat_petition_Jaguarundi_2-3-10.pdf |website=WildEarth Guardians: A Force for Nature |date=2010}}

Mating season for the jaguarundi is believed to be in the months of November and December. A female jaguarundi's pregnancy cycle, or gestation period, lasts about 70–75 days. At the time of birth, the female will have anywhere between 1–4 kittens, each weighing 4–7 kilograms.{{Cite web|url=http://bigcatrescue.org/jaguarundi-facts/ |website=Big Cat Rescue |title=Jaguarundi Facts |date=15 July 2023 }} Like their relative, the cougar, the kittens between the ages of 0 and 12 weeks will have spots on their coats; however, around month 3 or 4, the kittens' spots are lost.{{Cite web|url=http://t4studios.com/thefloridajaguarundi.html |title=The Florida Jaguarundi |website=T4 Studios |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624204954/http://www.t4studios.com/thefloridajaguarundi.html |archive-date=24 June 2016}} At 6 weeks of age, the cats will begin eating solid foods, usually rodents. Shortly after, they leave their mothers, and within 2–3 years, achieve sexual maturity.{{Cite web|url=http://www.thejunglestore.com/Jaguarundi_Facts |title=Jaguarundi |website=The Jungle Store |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304035920/http://www.thejunglestore.com/Jaguarundi_Facts |archive-date=4 March 2016}} Their life expectancy is very impressive, ranging from 16–22 years in captivity. In the wild, its longevity is approximately 10–15 years, a feat most attributable to their well-protected den.

The jaguarundi has a carnivorous diet. The animals they hunt tend to be relatively small animals. Small mammals, birds, frogs, and fish are a few of the wide variety of prey that the jaguarundi feeds on. These cats may have adapted to eating a wide variety of animal because of the scarcity of food.Rick, J. 2004. "Puma yagouaroundi" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed October 24, 2014 [http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/account here] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030821195503/http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/account |date=2003-08-21 }}

The Southwestern Association of Naturalists, an organization of 791 scientists (at time of publication) specializing in the zoology, botany, and ecology of southwestern USA and Mexico, published a resolution in 2008 expressing opposition to the Mexico–United States barrier "based on sound and accurate scientific knowledge" and its negative impact on "many rare, threatened and endangered species", "particularly endangered mammals such as the jaguar, ocelot, jaguarundi, and Sonoran pronghorn" citing literature within their resolution.Southwestern Association of Naturalists (SWAN) 2008. [https://saon.wildapricot.org/resources/Documents/SWAN_Border_Fence_Resolution.pdf Resolution on the US -Mexico Border Fence]. Over 2500 scientists from 43 countries (including 1472 from the USA and 616 from Mexico) also published a statement in 2018 stating that the border wall will have "significant consequences for biodiversity" and that "already-built sections of the wall are reducing the area, quality, and connectivity of plant and animal habitats and are compromising more than a century of binational investment in conservation", citing published scientific studies therein.{{Cite journal|url=https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/68/10/740/5057517|author=Peters, Robert|display-authors=etal|date=2018|title=Nature Divided, Scientists United: US–Mexico Border Wall Threatens Biodiversity and Binational Conservation|journal=BioScience |volume=68 |issue=10 |pages=740–743|doi=10.1093/biosci/biy063 |doi-access=free}} A few patches of good habitat remain in south Texas, despite having been largely destroyed by the construction of the border fence.{{Cite book|author=Dinets, Vladimir |date=2015 |title=Peterson Field Guide to Finding Mammals in North America |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Publishing Co. New York NY. xiii |pages=348|isbn=978-0-544-37327-3}}

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service listed Gulf Coast jaguarundi as endangered in 1976. The agency has proposed steps to reestablish jaguarundi populations, but has so far failed to fulfill many of them. Some of these steps include assessing habitat and land connectivity to support viable populations, developing survey techniques to ascertain their status and better understand their ecological and conservation needs, and developing partnerships to help promote jaguarundi conservation.{{Cite web |date=January 6, 2014 |title=Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Final Recovery Plan for the Gulf Coast Jaguarundi |url=https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2014/01/06/2013-31533/endangered-and-threatened-wildlife-and-plants-final-recovery-plan-for-the-gulf-coast-jaguarundi |website= |publisher=United States Fish and Wildlife Service |id={{Federal Register|79|661}}}} The biggest threat to the Gulf Coast jaguarundis is the Mexico–U.S. border fence, as it fragments populations and prevents migration.{{cite web |date=2013 |title=Gulf Coast Jaguarundi Recovery Plan |url=https://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/FINAL%20Gulf%20Coast%20Jaguarundi%20Recovery%20Plan.pdf |access-date=2023-05-26 |publisher=United States Fish and Wildlife Service}} Additionally, jaguarundis are facing habitat loss, so the Fish and Wildlife Service is planting shrubs and plants found in a jaguarundi's natural environment in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas.

{{Reflist}}

• {{Wikispecies-inline|Puma yagouaroundi cacomitli}}
• [http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/2014/01/19/snapshot-jaguarundi/ Scientific American Extinction Countdown]
• [http://ecos.fws.gov/speciesProfile/profile/speciesProfile.action?spcode=A05H US Fish & Wildlife Service]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q5471368}}

Category:Puma (genus)

Category:Mammals of Mexico

Category:Endangered fauna of North America

Category:Endangered biota of Mexico

Category:Mammals described in 1859

Category:ESA endangered species