People and jaguars: new insights into the role of social factors in an old conflict
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People and jaguars: new insights into the role of
social factors in an old conflict
FLAVIA CARUSO, PABLO G. PEROVIC, ANDRÉS TÁLAMO, CAROLINA B. TRIGO
MARÍA S. ANDRADE-DÍAZ, GUSTAVO A. MARÁS, DIEGO SARAVIA
C L A U D I O S I L L E R O - Z U B I R I and M A R I A N A A L T R I C H T E R
Abstract Throughout its range in Latin America, the jaguar Supplementary material for this article is available at
Panthera onca is threatened by habitat loss and fragmenta- doi.org/./S
tion, and by conflict as a result of coexistence with people.
This Near Threatened species is a top predator, and is
often illegally hunted. Understanding people’s attitudes and Introduction
perceptions and the factors that could influence them is cru-
cial for the conservation of this species. In this study we assess
how knowledge, attitudes and perceptions among people in U nderstanding people’s attitudes and perceptions and
the factors that could influence them is crucial for the
conservation of species whose coexistence with people leads
northern Argentina regarding jaguars vary depending on
their level of education, age and occupation. We interviewed to conflicts, such as in the case of large carnivores preying on
people living in and around protected areas in nor- domestic animals (Ripple et al., ). Castaño-Uribe et al.
thern Argentina. Positive perceptions and attitudes towards () highlight the extent and complexity of human–
the jaguar were associated with economic benefits that people felid conflicts in Latin America, where the jaguar Panthera
may receive from the species’ presence, such as income from onca, categorized as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red
tourism. Unexpectedly, higher levels of formal education List (Quigley et al., ), provides a poignant example of
were not associated with more positive attitudes and percep- this conservation challenge (Botero-Cruz et al., ; Caruso
tions. Negative attitudes and perceptions towards the species et al., ; Marchini et al., ).
were determined by fear; people see jaguars as a threat to their The largest reduction (%) of the species’ range has
lives. This study shows that the socio-economic factors that occurred in Argentina, where remaining populations
affect the level of tolerance towards jaguars are not related are confined to small and probably disconnected areas
only to economic losses. Our findings provide information in the Yungas, the Chaco and the Atlantic Forest. For
for the design, implementation and evaluation of jaguar these reasons, the species is categorized nationally as
conservation projects in Argentina. Critically Endangered (Perovic & Herrán, ; Altrichter
et al., ; Aprile et al., ; Di Bitetti et al., ).
Keywords Argentina, conservation, human–wildlife conflict, The species’ current range in Argentina is c. , km,
jaguar, Panthera onca, semi-arid Chaco, social perceptions, .–.% of its historical range in the country (Di
Yungas Bitetti et al., ). This range contraction is a result of
conversion of natural habitats to livestock pasture and
farmland, habitat fragmentation, reduction of natural
FLAVIA CARUSO*† (Corresponding author, orcid.org/0000-0001-9703-081X), prey and illegal hunting (De Ángelo, ; Perovic
ANDRÉS TÁLAMO‡§, CAROLINA B. TRIGO‡§, MARÍA S. ANDRADE-DÍAZ‡§ and
GUSTAVO A. MARÁS‡§ Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y
et al., ; Di Bitetti et al., ). Hunting was formerly
Tecnológicas, Leguizamón 366, Salta, Argentina. E-mail flavicl@hotmail.com practiced for pelt commercialization, but the species con-
PABLO G. PEROVIC† Administración de Parques Nacionales, Dirección Regional tinues to be persecuted because of predation on livestock
Noroeste-DRNOA, Salta, Argentina and because it is perceived as a threat to human life
DIEGO SARAVIA Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Salta, (Perovic, ; Altrichter, ; Altrichter et al., ;
Salta, Argentina Perovic et al., ).
CLAUDIO SILLERO-ZUBIRI† Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Large carnivores such as the jaguar have cascading ef-
Zoology, University of Oxford, The Recanati-Kaplan Centre, Tubney, UK,
and Born Free Foundation, Horsham, UK
fects on ecological communities and ecosystem func-
tioning (Ripple et al., ). The jaguar’s requirement for
MARIANA ALTRICHTER Prescott College, Prescott, USA
extensive and continuous habitat and its dependence on
*Also at: Administración de Parques Nacionales, Dirección Regional Noroeste,
Salta, Argentina large prey species often result in overlap with local farm-
†Also at: Jaguares en el Límite, Salta, Argentina ers and settlers, which increases the potential for conflicts
‡Also at: Instituto de Bio y Geo-ciencias del NOA-IBIGEO, Salta, Argentina (Conforti & De Azevedo, ; De Azevedo, ) and
§Also at: Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Salta, Salta,
Argentina the risk of persecution and eradication (Paviolo, ).
Received July . Revision requested October . Jaguar conservation could be facilitated by taking into ac-
Accepted December . First published online January . count its role in ecosystems and the need to generate a
Oryx, 2020, 54(5), 678–686 © 2020 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605318001552
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https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605318001552People and jaguars 679
change in people’s attitudes and actions (Ripple et al., attitudes and perceptions of local people towards jaguars
). have not been studied in the northern region of Argentina,
Understanding how people perceive the jaguar and hindering the promotion of coexistence between people
which factors influence attitudes will help shape conserva- and jaguars.
tion to protect the remaining populations. Perceptions are In this context our objective was to identify which socio-
understood as a hierarchy of knowledge that ranges from economic factors (level of education, age, and occupation)
the basic knowledge of an individual about an object, could explain the level of knowledge, perceptions and atti-
in this case the jaguar, to cognitive properties as beliefs tudes regarding jaguars in northern Argentina. As attitudes
(Dickman et al., ). An attitude is a person’s favourable towards wildlife may be influenced by past and present in-
or unfavourable evaluation of an object (e.g. a species, a teractions (Kellert et al., ), we hypothesized that () nega-
management action). Attitudes have both cognitive and tive perceptions and attitudes towards jaguars would more
evaluative elements; i.e. a combination of beliefs and nega- likely be found among older people and, based on previous
tive and/or positive views about an object (Pierce et al., studies, we also expected that () negative perceptions
). would be found among livestock farmers and those with
Perceptions of and attitudes towards large carnivores are lower educational levels.
not solely determined by direct costs associated with living
alongside them, such as a livestock predation (Treves &
Bruskotter, ), but rather they are ‘the product of a dy- Study area
namic and complex net of social factors such as age, educa-
tional level, main economic occupation of the people, and The study was carried out in and around Protected Areas
cultural factors’ (Dickman et al., , p. ). For example, in the Yungas and Chaco ecoregions of Jujuy, Salta, Santiago
perceptions and attitudes towards large carnivores tend to del Estero and Chaco provinces (Table ). Their selection
be more positive among young people (Williams et al., was driven by the importance of these areas for the re-
) and those with higher levels of formal education maining jaguars of northern Argentina (Perovic et al.,
(Consorte-McCrea et al., ). Hostile attitudes, on the ; Palacios, ; Ramadori et al., ; Fig. ).
other hand, are more frequently found among people Lying along the eastern slopes of the Andes from
whose primary occupation is livestock husbandry (Porfirio Venezuela to north-west Argentina (Cabrera & Willink, ),
et al., ). the Yungas is a fragile and threatened ecoregion com-
Socio-cultural factors, such as popular beliefs, also af- prising , km in Argentina, of which .% is protect-
fect attitudes towards carnivores; thus social attitudes are ed (Brown et al., ). Annual rainfall is –, mm,
closely connected to individual lifestyles and, once estab- concentrated in the summer rains during December–April.
lished, become deep-rooted (Naughton-Treves et al., ). During the cold months, rainfall ceases and condensation
Jaguars tend to generate multiple emotions, ranging from from the mists that characterize these cloud forests is
admiration to irrational terror (Hoogesteijn et al., ). important for water uptake (Burkart et al., ). The mean
For some people the presence of large carnivores may seasonal temperature varies from °C in winter to °C in
produce positive feelings such as joy, whereas for others summer (Ibisch et al., ). The main economic activities are
it may evoke negative feelings such as fear (Altrichter et al., extensive livestock farming, small-scale agriculture, extensive
; Johansson & Karlsson, ; Jacobs et al., ). Wild- tobacco and sugar farming, selective logging, and fossil fuel
life knowledge can influence attitudes towards large fe- extraction. Nature-based tourism is an emerging activity
lids, and reduce fear and conflict (Marchini & Macdonald, (Perovic et al., ). Illegal hunting of jaguars and their
; Porfirio et al., ; Engel et al., ). Previous prey is common throughout the region (Perovic, ;
research has also shown that people with more formal Chalukian et al., ). Until c. , the jaguar occurred
education express greater appreciation of and/or concern throughout the Yungas ecoregion (Perovic et al., ), but
for protection of species than those with less formal educa- its current distribution is restricted to an area of , km
tion (Kellert et al., ; Luksenburg & Parsons, ). in Jujuy and Salta provinces, c. % of its original range.
In Argentina little is known about the socio-economic The species has a high probability of survival in % of this
factors that influence people’s perceptions of and attitudes area as a result of the geo-environmental heterogeneity and
towards jaguars. For example, in Misiones and Corrientes remoteness from human activities (Perovic et al., ).
the species is culturally important and is valued positive- The semi-arid Chaco is located in the central Chaco eco-
ly, even though it disappeared in Corrientes years ago region, which extends over . million km, covering parts
(Paviolo, ; Caruso & Jiménez Pérez, ), whereas in of Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia, with c. , km
the Chaco it is considered dangerous and is perceived in in Argentina (Dinerstein et al., ). The climate is mark-
negative terms (Altrichter et al., ). Thus perceptions edly seasonal, with a mean annual temperature of °C
and attitudes are context-specific (Caruso et al., ). The and annual rainfall of – mm concentrated in
Oryx, 2020, 54(5), 678–686 © 2020 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605318001552
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https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605318001552680 F. Caruso et al.
TABLE 1 Protected areas included in this study, by Province, with ecoregion, area and category, whether the jaguar Panthera onca has been
recorded and settlers are present, and the number of interviews that we conducted. Priority areas for the conservation of the jaguar in
Argentina are indicated with *.
Area Jaguar No. of
Province Protected area Ecoregion (ha) Category presence Settlers interviews
Salta Baritú* Yungas 724 National Park Frequent Yes 31
El Nogalar de Yungas 325 National Park Frequent Yes 96
los Toldos*
El Rey Yungas–Semi-arid 442 National Park Extinct No 14
Chaco
Pizarro Yungas–Semi-arid 784 National Reserve Extinct Yes 82
Chaco
Los Palmares Semi-arid Chaco 60 Provincial Reserve Extinct No 27
Acambuco* Yungas–Semi-arid 330 Provincial Reserve Frequent Yes 81
Chaco
Jujuy Calilegua* Yungas 763 National Park Regular No 139
Las Lancitas Yungas–Chaco 95 Provincial Reserve Occasional Yes 39
Santiago del Estero Copo Semi-arid Chaco 1,181 National Park Occasional Yes 242
Chaco El Impenetrable Semi-arid Chaco 1,298 National Park Likely No 59
Total 810
October–April (Caziani et al., ). Three rivers cross the the region, occupation and level of education. The pilot
semi-arid Argentine Chaco from north-west to south-east, test also helped us to refine the type, format and wording
but large parts of the region lack permanent water sources of the questions, to avoid ambiguity. We were also guided
other than artificial ponds constructed for livestock (Caziani by our own experience in the region and our familiarity
et al., ). The main economic activities are agriculture with the local culture, as well as the results of our previous
and extensive cattle husbandry and logging (Fahrig, ), research projects.
which have resulted in habitat fragmentation and other al- After the pilot test was completed, we interviewed
terations of the natural environment (Periago et al., ). women and men who had lived in the area for at least
Subsistence hunting is commonly practiced by rural settlers years, using a structured questionnaire, in Spanish, with
(Altrichter, ). As a result of these anthropogenic im- open and closed questions in four sections: () profile of
pacts, the jaguar population of the semi-arid Argentine the interviewee (age, place of residence, time living in the
Chaco is the most threatened in the country (Quiroga, region, occupation and level of education), () attitudes
); the species’ potential range in this area is c. km towards jaguars, () perceptions of jaguars, and () know-
(Quiroga, ). ledge of the ecological role of jaguars.
The independent variables were: () education, coded
according to the highest level of formal education reached
Methods by the interviewees (no school; elementary, st–th grade;
secondary, th–th grade; college; () age (young, –
During – we interviewed % of the people living years; adult, –; older, – years); and () occupation,
in and around (, km) the protected areas, using coded according to how the interviewees passed most of
convenience sampling, a non-random method used to their time and/or their main source of income (farming
create samples according to ease of access and people’s and cattle ranching; college or school student; tourism;
availability to be part of the sample (Kothari, ). We other). The category other (% of the interviewees) in-
conducted a pilot test to help design an effective and effi- cluded homekeepers, teachers and government employees.
cient questionnaire, during which we interviewed peo- To determine attitudes towards jaguars we asked: Do you
ple of different socio-economic and educational profiles, support jaguar conservation in the region? For perceptions
to obtain a representative and balanced sample. We first towards jaguars, we asked two questions: How would you
explained the project’s objectives to potential interviewees feel if the jaguar became extinct in the region, and what
and only conducted an interview if the person consented would you feel if you came across a jaguar in the forest?
verbally. We coded and analysed the responses to deter- To determine knowledge about jaguars, we asked: Could
mine if the definition of the problem was adequate and you describe the ecological role that the jaguar plays in the
to limit the profile of the desired sample by defining key ecosystem? For this last question we evaluated each re-
variables such as age, place of residence, time living in sponse of the interviewees and considered correct those
Oryx, 2020, 54(5), 678–686 © 2020 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605318001552
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https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605318001552People and jaguars 681
FIG. 1 Study area, protected
areas (NP, National Park;
NR, National Reserve; PR,
Provincial Reserve; Table )
and the current range of the
jaguar Panthera onca in the
Yungas (Perovic et al., )
and Chaco (Quiroga et al.,
) in north-west Argentina.
that mentioned concepts related to jaguars as top predators Support for jaguar conservation More (%) support for
affecting the functioning of the ecosystem. jaguar conservation was found among people with elementary
education (Fig. a). The odds that interviewees would be in
favour of conservation were higher among interviewees with
Data analysis elementary and secondary education in comparison with
those with no education (odds_ratioelementary = ., P = .;
The response variables were: () support for jaguar conserva- odds_ratiosecondary = ., P = .), but interviewees with a
tion (support, no support, undecided); () identification of college degree did not have higher odds of supporting
the ecological role that the jaguar plays in the ecosystem (cor- conservation (odds_ratio = ., P = .). Older interviewees
rect identification, incorrect identification); () feelings about (%) tended to support the protection of jaguars (Fig. b),
jaguar extinction (sad, happy, indifferent), and () feelings with the odds of being in favour of jaguar conservation
about an encounter with a jaguar (fear, joy, indifference). higher for adults and older people than for younger
To test our two hypotheses and identify factors (level of people (odds_ratioadult = ., P = .; odds_ratioolder = .,
education, age classes, occupation) that could potentially P , .). Occupation also influenced the level of sup-
explain the response variables, we built a series of multi- port, with people engaged in tourism (%) tending to sup-
nomial logistic regression models for response variables port the protection of jaguars (Fig. c). If the person was a
with more than two categories, and a logistic regression student or tourism worker the odds of being in favour of
model for binary responses. The Akaike information criter- the protection of the species were higher compared to farm-
ion (AIC; Akaike, ) was used to evaluate the best model. ers and cattle ranchers (odds_ratiofarmers and cattle ranchers = .,
The R (R Core Team, ) package nnet was used for P = .; odds_ratiotourism = ,,, P = .; Supplementary
building multinomial logistic regression models, package Table ).
MuMIn for model selection (Kuznetsova et al., ), and
the glm function with a binominal family for logistic
regression. Identification of the jaguar’s ecological role A higher pro-
portion of interviewees who recognized the ecological role of
the species had elementary (%) and college education (%;
Results Fig. d). The odds that people with college education recog-
nized the ecological role of the jaguar were higher than for
We found that level of education, age and occupation were people without education (odds_ratio = ., P = .). The
all predictors of the four response variables (Table ). odds that people with secondary education recognized the
Oryx, 2020, 54(5), 678–686 © 2020 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605318001552
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https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605318001552682 F. Caruso et al.
TABLE 2 Multinomial logistic regression models for responses to four questions regarding the jaguar. Models are ranked according to their
ΔAIC and weighting.
Model df Log-likelihood AICc1 ΔAICc2 wAICc3
Do you support jaguar conservation in the region? (Support, no support, undecided)
Age class + Education + Occupation 18 −683,503 1403.9 0 0.9
Age class + Occupation 12 −692,230 1408.9 4.9 0
Education + Occupation 14 −707,117 1442.8 38.8 0
Occupation 8 −713,601 1443.4 39.5 0
Age class + Education 12 −739,322 1503.0 99.1 0
Age class 6 −750,471 1513.0 109.1 0
Education 8 −754,038 1524.3 120.3 0
Null 2 −766,247 1536.5 132.6 0
How would you feel if the jaguar became extinct in the region? (Sad, happy, indifferent)
Age class + Education + Occupation 18 −693,153 1423.2 0 0.9
Education + Occupation 14 −700,413 1429.4 6.1 0
Age class + Occupation 12 −710,515 1445.4 22.2 0
Occupation 8 −719,365 1454.9 31.7 0
Education 8 −739,758 1495.7 72.5 0
Age class + Education 12 −735,665 1495.7 72.5 0
Age class 6 −768,931 1550.0 126.8 0
Null 2 −777,973 1560.0 136.7 0
What would you feel if you came across a jaguar in the forest? (Fear, joy, indifference)
Age class + Education + Occupation 18 −523,033 1082.9 0 0.7
Age class + Occupation 12 −530,254 1084.9 1.9 0.2
Age class + Education 12 −544,105 1112.6 29.6 0
Education + Occupation 14 −543,324 1115.2 32.2 0
Occupation 8 −552,024 1120.2 37.3 0
Age class 6 −554,393 1120.9 37.9 0
Education 8 −558,545 1133.3 50.3 0
Null 2 −574,734 1153.5 70.5 0
Could you describe the ecological role that the jaguar plays in the ecosystem? (Correct, incorrect)
Age class + Education + Occupation 9 −382.6 783.6 0 985.0
Education + Occupation 7 −389.1 792.4 8.7 12.0
Age class + Occupation 6 −391.5 795.2 11.6 3.0
Age class + Education 6 −454.8 921.8 138.2 0
Akaike information criterion corrected for small sample sizes.
Difference in AICc between best model and each individual model.
Model Akaike weight.
ecological role of the species tended to be lower compared (Fig. g). The odds that the person would feel sad if the jaguar
to people without education (odds_ratio = ., P = .). were to go extinct were greater for those with elementary
Most adults (%) and elders (%) did not recognize the (odds_ratio = ., P = .) or secondary education (odds_
ecological role of the species, whereas the majority of ratio = ., P = .) compared to people without educa-
young people (%) did recognize this (Fig. e). However, tion. Most young (%) interviewees felt sadness at the
only the odds of the elders tended to be lower than possible extinction of the jaguar (Fig. h), and for adults or
the odds of the young (odds_ratioadult = −., P = .; elders the odds of feeling sad were lower compared to youn-
odds_ratioelders = −., P = .). Knowledge also varied ger people (odds_ratioadult = ., P = .; odds_ratioolder =
according to occupation. Most students (%) recognized ., P = .). Most people engaged in tourism (%) felt
the ecological role of the species (Fig. f), with the odds of sadness at the possible extinction of the jaguar (Fig. i), with
recognizing the ecological role of the jaguar higher for stu- the odds that an interviewee would feel sad about the possible
dents compared to people engaged in farming and cattle extinction of the jaguar considerably higher if the person was
ranching (odds_ratio = ., P , .; Supplementary a tourism worker (odds_ratio = ., P , .) compared
Table ). to farmers and cattle ranchers (Supplementary Table ).
Feelings about jaguar extinction The majority of intervie- Feelings about an encounter with a jaguar Regardless of
wees who completed secondary (%) and elementary school level of education, age and occupation, most interviewees
(%) felt sadness at the possible extinction of the jaguar indicated they would feel fear in any potential encounter
Oryx, 2020, 54(5), 678–686 © 2020 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605318001552
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https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605318001552People and jaguars 683
FIG. 2 Relationships between
the responses variables
Support for jaguar
conservation (a–c),
Identification of the ecological
role that the jaguar plays in the
ecosystem (d–f), Feelings
about jaguar extinction (g–i),
and Feelings about an
encounter with a jaguar (j–l),
and the independent variables
education, age class and
occupation.
with a jaguar (Fig. ); this was least amongst farmers and support, jaguar conservation initiatives could consider pro-
cattle ranchers (%; Fig. l). Interviewees with a college motion of economic alternatives such as tourism for people
education had the highest percentage (%) of indifference living within the species’ range. Charismatic large felids tend
to a possible encounter with a jaguar (Fig. j), with this the to appeal to a wide audience and are therefore valuable to
only education category that had a high proportion of in- nature-based tourism, although the chance of spotting an
difference compared to the category no formal education individual in the wild is limited (Skibins et al., ). In nor-
(odds_ratio = ., P = .). Most young (%), adult (%) thern Argentina nature-based tourism is a relatively recent
and older people (%) expressed fear in relation to a endeavour, taking place primarily on private land and in a
possible encounter with the species (Fig. k). The odds few protected areas (Perovic et al., ). All interviewees en-
that the person would feel joy in encountering a jaguar gaged in tourism-related activities supported jaguar conser-
were lower for adults or elders compared to young people vation, which was similar in Corrientes, where the majority
(odds_ratioadult = ., P , .; odds_ratioolder = ., of local people agreed to a reintroduction plan for jaguars,
P = .). If the person was a student the odds of feeling identifying a potential income source (Caruso & Jiménez
joy at an encounter were lower compared to farmers and cat- Pérez, ). However, we found that people engaged in
tle ranchers (odds_ratio = ., P , .; Supplementary tourism did not understand the ecological role of the spe-
Table ). cies; i.e. they were interested in jaguars mainly as a generator
of income. This indicates the need to foster greater aware-
ness in the local emerging tourism industry, and a need
Discussion for education that emphasizes values associated with the
existence of jaguars beyond their economic value.
We sought to address the socio-economic factors that influ- Jaguars are considered the sole or principal cause of live-
ence people’s perceptions of jaguars in the southernmost stock loss in the Argentine Yungas (Perovic, ), and thus
area of its distribution. In general, we found that positive as long as the current land use and farming system con-
perceptions and attitudes towards jaguars seem to be strongly tinues, negative attitudes towards jaguars are likely to persist.
influenced by people’s occupation. This could be related to However, we found that support for jaguar conservation
the economic benefits that people receive from the presence among cattle ranchers was relatively high (%), a finding
of jaguars (in this case, tourism). Thus, to gain more social that could be explained by the ranchers’ repeated comments
Oryx, 2020, 54(5), 678–686 © 2020 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605318001552
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https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605318001552684 F. Caruso et al.
on compensation or other economic benefits of livestock highlighted the importance of information (i.e. the value
losses. Given that ranchers pose a direct threat to jaguars of the species) in increasing acceptance of the American
through retaliatory killings (Perovic et al., ), interventions black bear Ursus americanus (Slagle et al., ). Factors
that seek to make them more interested in jaguar conserva- explaining attitudes and perceptions are context-specific
tion could positively impact the status of this species in the (Paviolo, ; Caruso & Jiménez Pérez, ). Our study
southern fringes of its distribution. showed that factors explaining attitudes and perceptions
Fear for personal safety and a lack of knowledge of a pre- vary mostly in relation to people’s occupation, and can
dator’s ecological importance can generate negative social determine the level of tolerance towards jaguars. These
perceptions and, hence, the persecution and death of jaguars findings corroborate earlier research (Caruso et al., ;
(Soto-Shoender & Main, ). Our findings do not support Tortato et al., ), showing that the benefits of tourism
our two hypotheses: we found that the majority of people greatly exceed the losses caused by predation, and increased
with secondary education and young people were afraid of the acceptance of jaguars.
encountering a jaguar in the forest, and were convinced they Considering attitudes and social factors is essential for
could be attacked, whereas few ranchers expressed fear of understanding and elucidating ways to mitigate conflicts,
an encounter. However, ranchers were also convinced that design educational programmes and implement conserva-
jaguars could attack people. Fear is an emotion that can be tion projects. In Argentina, promoting tourism could be
learned or is innate (i.e. a consequence of biological evolu- an economic alternative compatible with jaguar conserva-
tion; Jacobs, ). Fear for personal safety amongst people tion and could increase the level of appreciation of the exis-
with secondary education and amongst young people could tence of the species, thus fostering positive attitudes.
be a result of lack of knowledge about the jaguar and of
attitudes associated with familiar and popular beliefs; i.e. Acknowledgements We thank the Consejo Nacional de Investiga-
ciones Científicas y Tecnológicas (CONICET) and Administración de
without having had direct experience with the species Parques Nacionales for providing institutional support, and Fondation
(McGovern & Kretser, ). It is possible that the lower Segré, The Rufford Foundation, IdeaWild and WildCRU for financial
proportion of ranchers expressing fear is based on their support. We are grateful to the volunteers who helped with fieldwork,
experiences of encounters with jaguars (in most cases, Mauricio Núñez Regueiro for advice on data analysis, Leonidas Lizar-
when a rancher encounters a jaguar the animal is killed; raga for GIS support, María Schulze and Ximena Uriburu for transla-
tion, and the anonymous reviewers whose critiques improved the text.
Perovic, ). These findings accord with a study in the
tropical lowlands of Guatemala, where % of interviewees Author contributions Planning and research design: FC, PP, MA;
believed that jaguars were a threat to people (Soto-Shoender fieldwork: FC; data analysis: FC, AT, DS; writing: all authors.
& Main, ). Hoogesteijn et al. () found that jaguars
do not pose a danger to people’s physical integrity; of Conflict of interest None.
jaguar sightings reviewed, only a single attack on humans
Ethical standards This article derives from research carried out as
was reported, which involved a mock attack by a male part of FC’s doctoral thesis. The National University of Salta and the
guarding a female in heat. thesis Committee reviewed the research proposal and provided ethical
Fear of jaguars varies depending on people’s knowledge approval. This research abided by the Oryx guidelines on ethical
(Cavalcanti et al., ), with some correlation between for- standards.
mal education and support for conservation (Williams et al.,
). Few of our interviewees, however, had an under-
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