Paper short abstract:

A survey of rural communities in north-western Bolivia explored the complex relationships between people and jaguars, and how the cultural and commercial value of jaguars, along with their perception as dangerous animals, translate into their admiration and commodification.

Paper long abstract:

After nearly five decades of being protected from international trade, recent seizures of jaguar (Panthera onca) body parts across the jaguar range and internationally have turned trade into a growing concern for jaguar conservation. Bolivia has been at the epicentre of recent cases of illegal jaguar trade, standing out due to its more than 600 confiscated jaguar teeth (2014-2017), all destined to China. The recently uncovered links between illegal jaguar trade and demand from Chinese wildlife markets has captured significant media attention and elevated the profile of this threat internationally. Meanwhile, the characteristics and drivers behind jaguar poaching in source areas, along with domestic demand for jaguar body parts, have been largely overlooked. To explore the prevalence, characteristics and drivers of the illegal jaguar trade, we conducted household surveys reaching 1107 people in 36 rural villages in north-western Bolivia. We found that the illegal trade in jaguars is driven largely by the traditional practices of local communities, opportunism, human–jaguar conflict and market incentives from both foreign and domestic demand, in the absence of law awareness and enforcement. Local uses and demand for jaguars were highly prevalent (reaching 42% of our sample), and nearly all jaguar body parts were locally desired for decorative, medicinal, and cultural purposes. Our surveys revealed the complex relationship between people and jaguars in our study area, where the strong cultural and commercial value of jaguars, along with their perception as dangerous animals, translate into their admiration, animosity and commodification.