Lesser Long-Nosed bat (Leptonycteris curasoae yerbabuenae) Status: Endangered, Species of conservation priority for AZ Game and Fish (as of 9/30/1988; 53 FR 38456) Range: Cochise, Gila, Graham, Greenlee, Maricopa, Pima, Pinal, Santa Cruz, and Yuma Counties, AZ; Hidalgo County, NM Yellow-brown or cinnamon gray bat, with a total head and body measurement of approximately 3 inches (7.62 cm). The tongue measures approximately the same length as the body. This species also has a small noseleaf. The wingspan of L. curasoae is approximately 10 inches (25 cm) and the mass is roughly 23 g Requires caves and mines for roost sites (maternity, maleonly, late-summer, and night roosts are used differently) and access to healthy stands of saguaro cactus and paniculate agaves for foraging. The Sonoran desertscrub vegetation community provides the early summer forage base, with bats found in southwestern Arizona. The semi-desert grassland and oak woodlands provide the late summer agave resources in the southeastern portion of the state No critical habitat Migratory 11.2012 42
Mexican Long-Nosed bat (Leptonycteris nivalis) Status: Endangered (as of 9/30/1988; 53 FR 38456) Range: Hidalgo County, NM The Mexican Long-nosed Bat is a relatively large bat compared with most U.S. bat species. It measures about 2.75 to 3.75 inches in total length, can be dark gray to "sooty" brown in color, and has a long muzzle with a prominent nose leaf at the tip. Its long tongue, an adaptation for feeding on flower nectar, can be extended up to three inches and has hair-like papillae on its tip. It has a minute tail that may appear to be lacking. In Texas and northern Mexico, at the northern part of their range, these bats are found in desert scrub vegetation dotted with century plants (agaves), mesquite, creosotebush, and a variety of cacti. In Big Bend National Park, long-nosed bats are associated with five distinct vegetation types at various elevations. These include the arroyomesquiteacacia (1800-4000 ft.), lechuguillacreosotebush- cactus (1800-3500 ft.), deciduous woodland (3700-7800 ft.), pinyon-juniperoak woodland (3700-7800 ft.), and cypress-pine-oak (5800-7200 ft.). For day roosting sites, Mexican Long-nosed Bats depend on cool caves, crevices, abandoned mines, tunnels, and old buildings. These highly colonial bats are frequently found near the entrances of caves and other roosts, in the twilight zones. The bats often occupy the same roosts from year to year. Throughout their range, thousands of individuals may roost together at a single site, although the number of caves with large aggregations is less common today than in the past. No Critical Habitat 11.2012 43
Black-Footed Ferret (Mustela nigripes) Status: Endangered (as of 3/11/1967; 32 FR 4001), experimental populations exempt Range: Apache, Coconino, Navaho, and Yavapai counties, AZ The black-footed ferret is 18 to 24 inches long, including a 5 to 6 inch tail. It weighs only one-and-a-half to two-and-a-half pounds, with males slightly larger than females. The black-footed ferret is well adapted to its prairie environment. Its color and markings blend so well with grassland soils and plants, that it is hard to detect until it moves. It is a slender, wiry animal with a black face mask, black feet, and a black-tipped tail. The rest of its short, sleek fur is a yellow-buff color, lighter on the belly and nearly white on the forehead, muzzle, and throat. It has short legs with large front paws and claws developed for digging. The ferret's large ears and eyes suggest it has acute hearing and sight, but smell is probably its most important sense for hunting prey underground in the dark. This species is limited to open habitat, the same habitat used by prairie dogs: grasslands, steppe, and shrub steppe. Resting and birthing sites are in underground burrows, generally made by prairie dogs. It has been estimated that about 40-60 hectares of prairie dog colony are needed to support one ferret. Specific experimental populations non-essential 11.2012 44
Jaguar (Panthera onca) Status: Endangered (as of 7/22/1997; 62 FR 39147) Range: Cochise, Pima, Santa Cruz counties AZ; Hidalgo county NM A large, heavy-bodied, big-headed cat. Yellowish to tawny, spotted with black rosettes or rings in horizontal rows along the back and sides; most rings are tan inside, with 1 or 2 black spots. Legs, head, and tail have smaller, solid spots, usually giving way to incomplete bands near the end of the tail. Found near water in warm, tropical savannas and forests within core of their range. In the northern portion of the range, found in thornscrub, desertscrub, and grasslands. Vegetation communities used in Arizona range from Sonoran desertscrub at lower elevations to sub-alpine mixed conifer in the mountain ranges. Critical habitat proposed 2012 11.2012 45
Canada Lynx (Lynx canadensis), NM Population Status: Candidate, NM population only (as of 12/17/2009; 74 FR 66937) Range: Colfax, Mora, Rio Arriba, San Juan, and Taos Counties, NM The lynx is a medium-sized cat with long legs, large, wellfurred paws, long tufts on the ears, and a short, black-tipped tail. The winter pelage of the lynx is dense and has a grizzled appearance with grayish-brown mixed with buff or pale brown fur on the back, and grayish-white or buff-white fur on the belly, legs and feet. Summer pelage of the lynx is more reddish to gray-brown. Adult males average 10 kilograms (22 pounds) in weight and 85 centimeters (33.5 inches) in length (head to tail), and females average 8.5 kilograms (19 pounds) and 82 centimeters (32 inches). The lynx s long legs and large feet make it highly adapted for hunting in deep snow. The distribution of lynx in North America is closely associated with the distribution of North American boreal forest. In Canada and Alaska, lynx inhabit the classic boreal forest ecosystem known as the taiga. The range of lynx populations extends south from the classic boreal forest zone into the subalpine forest of the western United States, and the boreal/hardwood forest ecotone in the eastern United States. Forests with boreal features extend south into the contiguous United States along the North Cascade and Rocky Mountain Ranges in the west, the western Great Lakes Region, and northern Maine. Within these general forest types, lynx are most likely to persist in areas that receive deep snow and have high-density populations of snowshoe hares, the principal prey of lynx. Candidate since 1982, Priority 12, listing non-immanent Remaining population is listed as Threatened 11.2012 46
New Mexico Meadow Jumping Mouse (Zapus hudsonius luteus) Status: Candidate (as of 12/6/2007; 72 FR 69034) Range: Apache and Greenlee Counties, AZ; Bernalillo, Colfax, Lincoln, Los Alamos, Mora, Otero, Rio Arriba, Sandoval, San Miguel, Sante Fe, Socorro, Taos, and Valencia Counties, NM The New Mexico meadow jumping mouse (jumping mouse) is endemic to New Mexico, Arizona, and a small area of southern Colorado (Hafner et al. 1981, pp. 501-502; Jones 1999, p. 1). The jumping mouse is grayishbrown on the back, yellowish-brown on the sides, and white underneath (Van Pelt 1993, p 1). The species is about 7. 4 to 10 inches (187 to 255 mm) in total length, with elongated feet (1.2 inches (30.6 mm)) and an extremely long, bicolored tail (5.1 inches (130.6 mm)) (Van Pelt 1993, p. 1; Hafner et al. 1981, p. 509). The jumping mouse is a habitat specialist (Frey 2006d, p. 3). It nests in dry soils, but uses moist, streamside, dense riparian/wetland vegetation up to an elevation of about 8,000 feet (Frey 2006d, pp. 34-45). The jumping mouse appears to only utilize two riparian community types: 1) persistent emergent herbaceous wetlands (i.e., beaked sedge and reed canarygrass alliances); and 2) scrub-shrub wetlands (i.e., riparian areas along perennial streams that are composed of willows and alders) (Frey 2005, p. 53). It especially uses microhabitats of patches or stringers of tall dense sedges on moist soil along the edge of permanent water. Under review since 1991, Priority 3, Listing Immanent 11.2012 47
Ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) Status: Endangered (as of 3/30/1972; 37 FR 6476) Range: Cochise, Gila, Graham, Pima, Pinal, Santa Cruz counties AZ Ground colors of the short fur of the ocelot, varies from creamy, or tawny yellow, to reddish grey and grey. The underside of the body, tail, and insides of the limbs is whitish. Rather more blotched than spotted, the chain-like spots are bordered with black. Ocelots have both solid and open dark spots which sometimes run in lines along the body. The back of the ears is black with a central yellowy/white band. Solid black spots mark the head and limbs. There are two black stripes on the cheeks and one or two transverse bars on the insides of the forelegs. The tail is either ringed or marked with dark bars on its upper surface. The eye sockets or orbits are incomplete at the back, and the anterior upper premolars are present. Areas of dense cover and vegetation with high prey densities. Little is known of specific habitat requirements in the Sonoran desert. No critical habitat rules 11.2012 48
Sonoran Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana sonoriensis) Status: Endangered (as of 3/11/1967; 32 FR 4001) Range: Maricopa, Pima, and Yuma Counties AZ Upperparts are reddish brown to tan; underparts, lower sides, rump, and two bands on the neck are white; neck has a short black mane; male has a black band along each side of the snout, a black patch on each cheek, and sometimes black bands on the neck; males and most females have horns (larger and usually forked in males); two toes on each hoofed foot Broad alluvial valleys separated by granite mountains and mesas; areas with small-leaf trees (foothill paloverde, mesquite, catclaw, crucifixion thorn, smoketree) and numerous species of cacti (saguaro, barrel cactus, etc.) scattered over rocky hills and coarse-soiled slopes; triangle-leaf bursage or brittle bush almost always present (Matthews and Moseley 1990). Habitat in southwestern Arizona: vegetation includes big galleta grass, six week three-awn, six weeks grama, creosote bush, bursage, and saltbush, similar to habitat in Sonora, where pronghorns occupy areas of stable sand dunes that have meadowlike conditions within or adjacent to them. No critical habitat rules 11.2012 49
Mount Graham Red Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus grahamensis) Status: Endangered (as of 6/3/1987; 52 FR 20994) Range: Graham county AZ The Mount Graham squirrel is tiny, weighing a mere 8 ounces (224 grams) and measuring about 8 inches in length, with a 6-inch long fluffy tail. Unlike many other squirrels, the Mount Graham species does not have a white -fringed tail. Females and males look much alike; they are grayish brown in color and have rusty and yellowish markings along their backs. Their underfur is white, with a dark line running through it during the summer. Historically, the Mount Graham Red Squirrel inhabited about 11,750 acres (47.6 km 2 ) of spruce-fir, mixed-conifer and ecotone zone habitats that were generally at higher elevations throughout the Pinaleño Mountains. Recent data shows that it occurs more frequently at the ecotone zone then the other habitats. When choosing a potential nesting site, the squirrels typically pick a cool, moist area with an abundance of food sources. Drought, forest fires, and insect infestation have been responsible for a decrease of the squirrel in the spruce-fir habitat. Critical habitat declared for range (2/5/1990; 55 FR 425) 11.2012 50
Hualapai Mexican Vole (Microtus mexicanus hualpaiensis) Status: Endangered (as of 11/2/1987; 52 FR 36776) Range: Mohave county AZ A small, cinnamon-brown, mouse-sized mammal with a short tail and fur that nearly covers its small, round ears. Primarily associated with woodland forest types containing grasses and grass-sedge associates. Occurs in moist, grass/ sedge habitats along permanent or semipermanent waters (such as springs or seeps), but may be able to occupy drier areas when grass/forb habitats are available, particularly during wetter years. No critical habitat 11.2012 51
Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) Status: Endangered (as of 3/9/1978; 43 FR 9607) Range: Catron, Grant, Hidalgo, and Sierra Counties, NM The Gray Wolf, being a keystone predator, is an integral component of the ecosystems to which it typically belongs. The wide range of habitats in which wolves can thrive reflects their adaptability as a species, and includes temperate forests, mountains, tundra, taiga, and grasslands. Wolves are habitat generalists and lived thorughout the northern hemisphere. They only require ungulate prey and human-casued mortality rates that are not excessive. No Critical Habitat in the southwest 11.2012 52
Mexican Gray Wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) Status: Endangered (1976). Experimental populations exempt Range: AZ, NM. The Mexican gray wolf (Canis lupus baileyi), also called the Mexican wolf is the smallest, southern-most occurring, rarest, and most genetically distinct subspecies of gray wolf in North America. Mexican wolves typically weigh 50-80 pounds and measure about 5 ½ feet from nose to tail, and stand 28 to 32 inches at the shoulder. They have a distinctive, richly colored coat of buff, gray, rust, and black, often with distinguishing facial patterns; solid black or white variations do not exist as with other North American gray wolves. They live in extended family groups, or packs, consisting of an adult mated pair and their offspring, often from several generations. The alpha pair is usually monogamous, and they typically are the only breeding animals in the pack. Although highly variable, a typical Mexican wolf pack might consist of 4-8 animals, with a territory encompassing up to several hun- Mexican wolves are found in a variety of southwestern habitats. They prefer mountain woodlands, probably because of the favorable combination of cover, water, and available prey. Establishment of a Nonessential Experimental Population of the Wolf was re-introduced into the Apache and Gila national forests in eastern Arizona and western New Mexico on January 12, 1998 (63 FR 1752). This area is called the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area. Specific experimental populations non-essential (mapped below). 11.2012 53