Bikes and Beer Paving a Jaguar Corridor

A Changing Landscape  

“I call it a phenomenon driven by bikes and beer,” smiled Juan Carlos Bravo, our Associate Director, as he reflected on his home city of Hermosillo. The city has grown from 220,000 to almost one million people over the last 50 years in Mexico’s state of Sonora, which borders southern Arizona and New Mexico.

The city of Hermosillo in Sonora, Mexico. Photo by Cavan 

Juan Carlos continued, “When I got here in 2005, folks would describe the city to me as a big ranch. A meat capital. But 12 years ago, as in many growing cities, younger generations started to join the craft beer movement. And what’s the best way to get to a brewery when you’re concerned about traffic and climate change? A bike.”

Hermosillo has a growing presence of bike lanes, breweries, bookshops, and coffee shops. “These transitions demonstrate an underlying movement toward an environmentally conscious population that’s engaged in the world in new ways that Sonora had never seen before,” said Juan Carlos.

So, what do bikes and beer have to do with the jaguar? They could change their future.

The craft beer movement both indirectly and directly supports jaguar conservation as breweries like Huss Brewing Co. create jaguar-dedicated beer focused on saving the species. Photo by Huss Brewing Co.

A Reciprocal Relationship 

These big, beautiful cats, each as unique as the spots they carry, for centuries have been impacted by human guns and development. At extremes of their habitat range, jaguars are particularly vulnerable, leaving them currently extinct in portions of what was once their northernmost range that once extended through much of the U.S. Southwest. Sonora, Mexico is the northern population’s last stronghold that holds their only hope of returning to the U.S. – if we act now.

Like all large predators, studies demonstrate that big cats provide an incredible and irreplaceable service to their animal, plant, and human communities. Research like this paper shows that when cougar populations decreased in Utah’s Zion National Park, deer populations increased and ate away large swaths of cottonwood trees whose roots kept riverbanks intact. The resulting bank and habitat erosion hurt fish populations alongside other aquatic and terrestrial species.  

The park service ended up killing almost 800 deer to protect the remaining vegetation – a balancing act that cats like the cougar and jaguar naturally offer.  

“The good news is that we've seen preliminary evidence from camera traps that the jaguar population in Sonora is stronger than in the past, which would indicate that they could now move north,” said Roberto Wolf, a partner of ours at the Northern Jaguar Project. Now is the time to allow the jaguar to retake its place in Sonora and the U.S. to keep these ecosystems healthy before it’s too late.   

An endangered jaguar. Photo by Vladimir Wrangel

The Jaguar Corridor 

Rewilding can take many forms. In this case, the jaguars living in this hot Sonoran landscape have evolved nuanced survival techniques. Even their cousins who grew up in Mexico’s rainforests may not be able to survive in this resource-limited climate. Naturally rewilding the area by allowing the current jaguar residents to move north between countries is essential.  

The Sonoran Desert that spans between Sonora and Arizona. Video by Black Box Guild

That’s why we’ve established the jaguar's path to recovery: a series of jaguar corridors that connect core habitats in Sonora to its historic range in Arizona and New Mexico. We mapped these corridors using science-backed data on jaguar breeding locations, historic and current habitat, movement and dispersal needs, resources, and currently protected land. 

Recovering this pathway requires two essential components: 1) strategically conserving land that runs through the corridors, and 2) reestablishing movement across critical barriers in the region like Highway 2.  

These arrows indicate a series of jaguar corridors from Sonora to Arizona. Shaded regions are jaguar habitat. Map by Wildlands Network

By preserving this region, we also protect the area's thousands of other mammals, birds, insects, and plants that help make Mexico one of the most biodiverse countries on Earth. 

Local Reverence for the Jaguar    

In the jaguar’s absence, many people have forgotten ancient ties between humans and jaguars that go back to Mesoamerican roots. "People are surprised to hear that jaguars once lived in Sonora or Arizona. But local communities have been aware of their presence and are now starting to rebuild ways to coexist again with the species under a new approach," notes Roberto.  

On either side of the U.S.-Mexico border, local communities are embracing the jaguar with open arms. In Tucson, in Hermosillo, in the lands of the Pascua Yaqui and Tohono O’odham Tribes, and even in Phoenix, the jaguar’s gentle, piercing eyes stare from mountains, murals, beer cans, tequila bottles, and the front page of newspapers.  

“Somos Jaguares,” or “We Are Jaguars.” The mural was designed and painted by Allison Kreis of La Tierra del Jaguar in partnership with the Northern Jaguar Project. Photo by La Tierra del Jaguar 

While cities are embracing the jaguar, rural landscapes are a different story. Tensions exist between two extreme perspectives from rural landowners who will ultimately determine the future of this corridor.  

Ranchers Hold the Key to Conservation 

Private landowners own 95% of land in Sonora, most of whom are intergenerational ranching families. 

On one end, the age-old conflict between rancher and large predator runs deep and true. Over the last few years in particular, a battle with drought has heightened tensions as less available food means higher numbers of calves lost for any number of reasons, with jaguars being a target of blame, deserved or not. Ranches can have small margins that are severely impacted by the loss of livestock. 

On the other end, the phenomenon of beer and bikes has driven younger generations to be more aware of biodiversity and even local jaguar needs. As they inherit ranches from their families, they often choose to manage ranchlands differently. Families like the owners of El Aribabi Conservation Ranch and other such lands scattered across the landscape are looking for ways to make the transition from traditional ranching to biodiversity protection, research, habitat restoration, and regenerative cattle ranching.  

El Aribabi Conservation Ranch in Sonora. Photo by Juan Carlos Bravo

Both perspectives require a nuanced approach to conservation with experience and delicacy. That’s where Carlos comes in.   

Protecting Ranchers’ Rights  

When Carlos Castillo, our Northwest Mexico Program Co-Director, moved to Sonora, his conservation work took him directly to ranchlands as he set about laying the groundwork for the establishment of a large and ambitious Natural Protected Area. “Initially, ranch owners were skeptical – they thought the government was trying to take their land,” Carlos remembered. He spent the next decade developing relationships with each family in the area. “It takes a long time to build trust.” 

Every family was different. Some relied on livestock for their livelihood, others were losing money from cattle expenses. “I talked to them about the importance of ungulates and big cats in the area,” said Carlos. “And, most importantly, I reminded them of their rights – that they could protect their land from illegal activity and biodiversity loss.” 

This ranching community ultimately chose to protect their land as part of El Pinacate and Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve Pinacate, a Natural Protected Area and UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. 

Since then, Carlos has spent the last 30 years working on conservation including the development of policies that support landowners while continuing voluntary land protection – all setting the stage for the jaguar’s return.   

Changing Policies Just Opened New Doors 

In 2022, Carlos helped inform and inspire Sonora’s Real Right of Conservation Policy, which the Sonoran government officially signed into law in 2024. This policy was a critical next step in Sonora’s land conservation because, for the first time, it provides economic incentives for landowners to formally protect their land both in the form of tax breaks and easement-like conservation mechanisms.  

These economic benefits are particularly important when it comes to ranching families whose livelihood depends on farming and raising livestock. 

A New Step Forward 

Building on this policy and environmental momentum, Wildlands Network received a grant to formally move forward with establishing this jaguar corridor.  

This grant will allow us to 1) protect land in the corridor through private land conservation and 2) reconnect habitat by constructing wildlife crossings over a particularly dangerous segment of Highway 2. 

This grant will move the first wildlife crossing in Sonora forward. Rendering by Pedro Capdevielle

Between Juan Carlos’ transnational jaguar expertise and Carlos’ depth of experience in policy and landowner relationships, our team is ready to take a new step forward for the jaguar. We’re also partnering with the Northern Jaguar Project, Tierra del Jaguar, and Cuenca Los Ojos to implement these goals and further solidify the corridor.  

Whether in Sonora or Arizona, the lives of people and jaguars are inherently intertwined. Ushered by craft beer and bikes, Sonora’s environmental movement may ultimately open new doors to engagement with more landowners than ever before.  

The jaguar’s loss has echoed through these landscapes. We’re thrilled to be calling them back.  

Cover photo: A mural on 7th & Toole in Tucson, AZ. This mural is by local artist Kati Astraeir and is a tribute to El Jefe. Photo by Lisa Harris