Presentation short abstract

Framing jaguar reintroduction in the Chaco via the “Patchy Anthropocene,” we reveal frictions between “Conservation” and “Criollo-Cattle” multispecies regimes. We show how rewilding narratives erase local history and argue for a practice that negotiates coexistence within these persistent patches.

Presentation long abstract

The reintroduction of jaguars (Panthera onca) into the Argentine Chaco has ignited deep-seated conflicts between global conservation models and local realities. We argue these conflicts are not simply human-wildlife issues, but are shaped by historical ruptures between two distinct, multi-species land-use regimes. Drawing on the “Patchy Anthropocene” framework, we move beyond linear transition models to analyze the violent ruptures and persistent “patches” left by competing histories. We demonstrate how livestock and jaguars are not passive objects but active agents entangled in the co-production of the Chaco. First, we analyze the “Criollo-Cattle regime,” where semi-feral cattle were fundamental to settlement and remain inextricably linked to livelihoods and historical relations with carnivores. We contrast this with the emerging “Conservation regime,” which reframes the jaguar as an objectified emblem for a new economy based on rewilding and ecotourism. Crucially, the ahistorical narrative of this rewilding project actively erases the embedded history of the Criollo-Cattle regime and its practices of coexistence. Through a qualitative study in the Impenetrable region—combining oral histories with pastoralists and content analysis of management discourse—our analysis reveals the contemporary Chaco as a “patchy” mosaic constituted by these overlapping worlds. We conclude that an alternative conservation practice is needed: one that engages with these competing multispecies histories to find ways of coexisting within the patch, rather than attempting to erase them.