Jaguar reserve created in Mexico

Conservationists have announced that a 4000ha ranch in Mexico will become a jaguar preserve and research centre.

"Today is a momentous day for jaguar conservation," said Scotty Johnson, a spokesman for Defenders of Wildlife.

Jaguars, North America's largest native cat, were indigenous to Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, and once roamed through Mexico to Argentina.

But the animal has all but vanished within the US.

Naturalia, a Mexico City-based nonprofit organisation, bought the ranch, 190km south of Arizona.