Latin America

This section focuses on human-wildlife conflicts in Latin America, highlighting how local perceptions, knowledge, and practices influence interactions with wildlife. Studies examine conflict patterns and drivers in specific contexts (e.g., ranching and fisheries) to inform targeted management and coexistence strategies in the region.

Key Papers

Álvarez, H. G., and G. Zapata-Ríos. 2021. Do social factors influence perceptions of the jaguar Panthera onca in Ecuador? Oryx:1-8.  Download

Azevedo, F. C. C., P. H. Nobre, G. A. Ferreira, R. Morato, R. C. de Paula, P. R. Amaral, E. Eizirik, C. C. Sartor, and A. Andriolo. 2023. Translocation as a tool for the conservation of the jaguar Panthera onca: a case study in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Oryx:1-5.   Download

Ballejo, F., P. Plaza, A. di Virgilio, M. Lucherini, P. Gáspero, M. M. Guerisoli, A. Novaro, M. Funes, and S. A. Lambertucci. 2022. Unravelling negative interactions between humans, mammalian carnivores and raptors in South America. Ecología Austral.   Download

Balaguera-Reina, S., and N. Farfán Ardila. 2018. Are we ready for successful apex predator conservation in Colombia? Human-crocodilian interactions as a study case. Herpetological Review 49:5-12.  External resource

Balbuena-Serrano, Á., M. M. Zarco-González, O. Monroy-Vilchis, R. G. Morato, and R. C. De Paula. 2021. Hotspots of livestock depredation by pumas and jaguars in Brazil: a biome-scale analysis. Animal Conservation 24:181-193.  External resource

Becker, A., Negrões, N., Díez-León, M., Lafuente-Cartagena, I., Guerra, N., Larrea-Alcázar, D., Boron, V., Arias, M., Sainz, L., Peñaranda, M., Sanabria, B., Anne Glikman, J.A. 2026. Hunting, non-timber forestry products, and jaguars (Panthera onca): How livelihoods influence views toward jaguars in protected areas of the Bolivian Amazon. Journal for Nature Conservation, 89:127128. External resource

Benavides, P., and J. Caviedes. 2021. Unnatural pumas and domestic foxes: relations with protected predators and conspiratorial rumours in southern Chile. Environmental Values.  External resource

Bitencourt, MM & Maschio, GF. 2023. Incidence and characteristics of crocodilian incidents on humans in Brazil in the period 2000–2022. The Herpetological Journal, 33(3): 76-82. External resource

Borges, A.B.T. & Silva E.H. 2002. Biology of a lowland tapir population and it's potential as a community involvement agent in the Serra do Tabuleiro Stae Parl, Santa Catarina State, Brazil. Newsletter of the IUCN/SSC Tapir Specialist Group Vol. 11/No. 2. Download

Castellanos, A. & Gomez, L. 2015. Reintroduced Andean tapir attacks a person in the Antisana Ecological Reserve, Ecuador. Newsletter of the IUCN/SSC Tapir Specialist Group Vol. 22/No. 33. Download

Castellano, A.X. 2019. The threat of road-kill to Andean tapirs: the case of ‘Jorgito’, the Andean tapir that lived beside the Quito-Amazon highway, Ecuador. Boletín Técnico 14, Serie Zoológica 14-15:1-5. Download

Catapani, M.L.; Aguirra , I.R., Araujo, F.A.S., Moss , A., Massocato, G; Oliveira, B. and Desbiez, A.L.J. 2024. Manejo do fogo na pecuária pantaneira: percepções e oportunidades para sua gestão sustentável no bioma. Ecologia do Fogo e Conservação do Bioma Pantanal, 14(4). Download

Catapani, M. L., Desbiez, A.L.J. and Morsello, C. 2024. Giant anteaters as bad omens: Determinants and implications of wildlife superstitions. People and Nature, 6(3):987–1000. Download

Catapani, M.L., C. Morsello, B. Oliveira and A.L.J. Desbiez. 2021. Using a Conflict Framework Analysis to Help Beekeepers and Giant Armadillos (Priodontes maximus) Coexist. Front. Conserv. Sci., 2. Download

Connolly, E., and H. Nelson. 2023. Jaguars in the borderlands: multinatural conservation for coexistence in the Anthropocene. Frontiers in Conservation Science 4.   Download

Debrot AO, van den Burg MP, Sideleau B & van der Ploeg J. 2025. New records for the American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) for the Southern Dutch Antilles, placed in the context of the species’ regional range re-expansion. Caribbean Journal of Science. Caribbean Journal of Science 55(1):205-215. External resources

Desbiez, A.L.J., Oliveira, B. and Catapani, M.L. 2020. Bee careful! Conflict between beekeepers and giant armadillos (Priodontes maximus) and potential ways to coexist. Edentata 21:1–12. Download

de Souza, J.C., da Cunha, V.P. & Markwith, S.H. 2015. Spatiotemporal variation in human-wildlife conflicts along highway BR-262 in the Brazilian Pantanal. Wetlands Ecol Manage 23:227–239. External resources

de Thoisy, B. & Vogel, I. 2002. French Guiana Status of Lowland Tapirs (Tapirus terrestris) in French Guiana: A Preliminary Assessment. Newsletter of the IUCN/SSC Tapir Specialist Group Vol. 11/No. 2. Download

Estrada, N. 2006. Humans Attacked by a Baird’s Tapir (Tapirus bairdii) in the Sierra de Agalta National Park, Olancho, Honduras. Newsletter of the IUCN/SSC Tapir Specialist Group Vol. 15/No. 20. Download

Ferraz, et al. 2022. Best of both worlds: Combining ecological and social research to inform conservation decisions in a Neotropical biodiversity hotspot. Journal for Nature Conservation, 66. External resources

Flores, C., G. Lichtenstein, and A. Schiavini. 2023. Human–wildlife conflicts in Patagonia: ranchers’ perceptions of guanaco Lama guanicoe abundance. Oryx:1-11.   Download

García-Grajales, J., and A. Buenrostro-Silva. 2019. Assessment of human–crocodile conflict in Mexico: patterns, trends and hotspots areas. Marine and Freshwater Research 70:708-720.  External resource

González-Desales, G. A., L. Sigler, J. García-Grajales, P. Charruau, M. M. Zarco-González, Á. Balbuena-Serrano, and O. Monroy-Vilchis. 2021. Factors influencing the occurrence of negative interactions between people and crocodilians in Mexico. Oryx:1-9.  Download

Guzman, B.K., Cotrina-Sánchez, A., Guzmán, C.T., Oliva, M., Tarifeño, C.M.O., Cerna, M.Y.H. & Sandoval, J.D.R. 2023. Predicting potential distribution and identifying priority areas for conservation of the lowland tapir (Tapirus terrestris) in Peruvian Amazon. Journal for Nature Conservation, 73:126397. External resources

Haddad, V., Assunção, M.C., de Mello, R.C. & Duarte, M.R. 2005. A fatal attack caused by a lowland tapir (Tapirus terrestris) in southeastern Brazil. Wilderness Environ Med. 2005 Summer; 16(2):97-100. External resources

Harris, A.-E., G. Maharaj, M. T. Hallett, M. A. Pierre, C. Chesney, and A. Melville. 2022. Influence of diet overlap and nest-site aggression on human–black caiman conflict in Guyana. Human Dimensions of Wildlife:1-10.   Download

Hermira, A. A. C., and F. Michalski. 2022. Crop damage by vertebrates in Latin America: current knowledge and potential future management directions. Peerj 10:e13185.  Download

Huerta-Rodríguez, J., Poot-Sarmiento, I., Duarte-Morales, A., Martínez-Martínez, V. & Reyna-Hurtado, R. 2024. Baird's Tapir (Tapirus bairdii) avoid human settlements and roads while searching for water in community-owned forests from the Calakmul region. Therya; 15. Download

Machado, R. 2022. Ingestion of fishing items by South American sea lion in southern Brazil: indicating a neglected problem. Fisheries Research 255:106459.   External resource

Marchini, S., Boulhosa, R., Camargo, J., Camilo, A.R., Concone, H., Feliciani, F., Ferrardo, I., et al. (2024). A systems approach to planning for human-wildlife coexistence: The case of people and jaguars in the Brazilian Pantanal. Conservation Science and Practice e13082. Download

Nogueira, A.L.G., Alves, C., Loisa Fabrícia Prates Alvarez, L.F.P., Cera, M.B., de Mendonça Guimarães, M.A., Rabelo, M.A., Beltrão, M.G., Pereira, M.S., Hatakeyama, R. & de Barros Ferraz, K.M.P.M. 2025. Human-wildlife conflicts in Brazil: Navigating through shared and spared landscapes. Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation; 23(4). External resource

Pérez-Flores, J., Mardero, S., López-Cen, A. & Contreras-Moreno, F.M. 2021. Human-wildlife conflicts and drought in the greater Calakmul Region, Mexico: implications for tapir conservation. Neotropical Biology and Conservation 16(4): 539-563. External resources

Pinto-Marroquin, M., C. Castaño-Uribe, J. Pérez-Torres, J. F. Aristizabal, D. Santos-Fita, A. Ramos Chaparro, and J. C. Serio-Silva. 2022. Potential conflict as an opportunity for coexistence: cosmovision and attitudes of Arhuaco people towards jaguars. Ethnobiology and Conservation 11.   Download

Pooley, S., P. A. Siroski, L. Fernandez, B. Sideleau, and P. Ponce-Campos. 2021. Human–crocodilian interactions in Latin America and the Caribbean region. Conservation Science and Practice n/a:e351.  Download

Ramos, K. L., R. Machado, C. Zapelini, L. C. de Castilho, and A. Schiavetti. 2023. Knowledge, attitudes and behavioural intentions of gillnet fishermen towards the South American sea lion in two marine protected areas in southern Brazil. Ocean & Coastal Management 242:106673.   External resource

Ribeiro, Y.G.G., Saito, E.N., Catapani, M.L., de Morais, R.B., Yogui, D.R., Sonetti-González, T., Mancilla Garcia, M., & Desbiez, A.L.J. 2025. Uncovering barriers and paths for ensuring road mitigation to reduce wildlife collisions: Establishing grounds for action. Conservation Science and Practice, 7(9), e70124. Download

Ribeiro, Y.G.G., Bastos, R.M., Silva, B.O., Marchini, S., Morais, R.B., Catapani, M.L., Corrêa, P.L.P., da Rocha, R.L.A., da SilvaA.M. and Ferraz K.M.P.M.B. 2023. Social media data from two iconic Neotropical big cats: can this translate to action? Frontiers in Conservation Science, 4. Download

Rojas-VeraPinto, R., C. Bautista, and N. Selva. 2022. Living high and at risk: predicting Andean bear occurrence and conflicts with humans in southeastern Peru. Global Ecology and Conservation:e02112.   Download

Sandoval-Hernández, I., A. Duran-Apuy, and J. Quirós-Valerio. 2017. Activities that may influence the risk of crocodile (Crocodylus acutus: Reptilia: Crocodilidae) attack to humans in the Tempisque River area, Guanacaste, Costa Rica. UNICIENCIA 31:13-22.  Download

Sandroni, L. T., K. M. P. M. de Barros Ferraz, S. Marchini, A. Percequillo, R. Coates, R. M. Paolino, Y. Barros, M. Landis, Y. G. G. Ribeiro, and L. P. Munhoes. 2022. Stakeholder mapping as a transdisciplinary exercise for jaguar conservation in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Conservation Science and Practice n/a:e12651.  Download

Serrano-Mac-Gregor, I., Reyna-Hurtado, R., Molina-Rosales, D. & Naranjo-Piñera, E. 2021. Baird’s tapir: predicting patterns of crop damage surrounding the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, Campeche, Mexico. Revista mexicana de biodiversidad, 92, e923520. External resources

Vargas, S. P., M. Hargreaves, J. P. Del Valle, A. Hodges, E. Beltrami, M. F. Toledo, and G. Sapaj-Aguilera. 2022. Coexistence in times of climate crisis: a participatory mapping to understanding conservation conflicts in the Central Andes of Chile. Frontiers in Conservation Science 3.   Download

Vélez, J., McShea, W., Pukazhenthi, B., Rodríguez, J.D., Suárez, M.F., Torres, J.M., Barrera, C. & Fieberg, J. 2022. Cattle exclusion increases encounters of wild herbivores in Neotropical forests. Journal of Applied Ecology, 61(10). External resources

Waters, S. 2015. Crop-raiding Baird’s Tapir Provoke Diverse Reactions from Subsistence Farmers in Belize. Newsletter of the IUCN/SSC Tapir Specialist Group Vol. 24/No. 33. Download

Zimmermann, A., P. Johnson, A. E. de Barros, C. Inskip, R. Amit, E. C. Soto, C. A. Lopez-Gonzalez, C. Sillero-Zubiri, R. de Paula, S. Marchini, J. Soto-Shoender, P. G. Perovic, S. Earle, C. J. Quiroga-Pacheco, and D. W. Macdonald. 2021. Every case is different: cautionary insights about generalisations in human-wildlife conflict from a range-wide study of people and jaguars. Biological Conservation 260:109185.  External resource

This library was compiled in collaboration with the IUCN Latin American Working Group (Latam WG)