How is the jaguar Panthera onca perceived by local communities along the Paraguai River in the Brazilian Pantanal?

Content Provider	Scilit
Author	Porfirio, Grasiela Sarmento, Pedro Leal, Stephanie Fonseca, Carlos
Copyright Year	2014
Description	Rapid habitat conversion, hunting as a retaliatory response to livestock depredation and, potentially, lack of knowledge regarding the species’ ecological role are the main factors influencing conservation of the Near Threatened jaguar Panthera onca in the Pantanal wetland of Brazil. Investigation of people's perceptions and attitudes towards a species is an important element of conservation initiatives but most information concerning human perceptions of jaguars in the Pantanal comes from conflict with ranchers, who typically perceive this species negatively as a result of economic losses. No information is available concerning perceptions of the jaguar by other inhabitants, particularly along riversides where the main activity is professional and recreational fishing. We used semi-structured questionnaires to interview 50 riverside inhabitants on how they perceive the jaguar and to investigate the influence of education and age on such perceptions compared to local people from rural properties in the Pantanal and other Brazilian biomes. ‘Dangerous’ was the predominant perception. We found that the negative perceptions of jaguars related to people's safety and not to economic losses from livestock depredation. We highlight environmental education programmes, ecotourism and better strategies to reduce livestock losses as useful tools for minimizing the perception that jaguars are dangerous in all situations.
Related Links	https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/A84A76EEA060A7AC65C16F2EDD782955/S0030605314000349a.pdf/div-class-title-how-is-the-jaguar-span-class-italic-panthera-onca-span-perceived-by-local-communities-along-the-paraguai-river-in-the-brazilian-pantanal-div.pdf
Ending Page	168
Page Count	6
Starting Page	163
ISSN	00306053
e-ISSN	13653008
DOI	10.1017/s0030605314000349
Journal	Oryx
Issue Number	1
Volume Number	50
Language	English
Publisher	Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Publisher Date	2014-08-14
Access Restriction	Open
Subject Keyword	Biodiversity Conservation
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Nature and Landscape Conservation