» People & Jaguars

The “People and Jaguars” programme was created to tackle reoccurring conflicts between people and wild big cats. In Brazil, the most crucial conflict is between cattle ranchers and jaguars (Pantera onca). The programme focus on the legal protection of the species against hunting, on the creation of protected areas and most importantly in the development of alternative mechanisms to decrease and/or compensate ranchers for economic losses incurred by jaguars on commercial livestock.

However, economic incentives alone in remote areas such as the Southern Amazon region are not sufficient to prevent illegal killing of large cats or to avoid the degradation of their habitats. Besides economic factors, large cats are also persecuted due to social and cultural aspects, such as fear, prejudice and superstition or simply for the enjoyment of hunting. Unfortunately, the importance of the social and cultural aspects concerning humans and jaguars’ relationship, and therefore, the conservation of big cats, have been hitherto largely neglected by the current approaches to their conservation in Brazil.

Through the programme “People and Jaguars”, FEC is conducting a study to identify the reasons – besides the economic one - that underlie the persecution of jaguars in the Amazon agricultural frontier, evaluating the local understanding, its superstitions, attitudes and social norms that preclude the behaviour of illegal hunters in rural areas near Cristalino State Park. Once these factors are identified, FEC, through its education and communication programme “Escola da Amazônia”, aims to develop an appropriate initiative to increase awareness and promote informed attitudes to save guard the jaguar from illegal shooting.

Conservation initiatives of large cats
in Brazil should take into consideration,
not only the economic, but also the social
and cultural aspects.