Social Repercussion of Translocating a Jaguar in Brazil

Abstract

The translocation of "problem-animals" is a common non-lethal strategy to deal with human-wildlife conflict. While processes of wildlife translocation have been widely documented, little is known about the social repercussions that take place once the capture and the return of a problem-animal to its natural habitat fail and it has to be permanently placed in captivity. We investigated how the public, an important stakeholder in wildlife conservation, perceived the translocation of a female jaguar to a wildlife captivity center. The objectives were to (1) assess the public's perceptions (e.g., attitudes, emotions, awareness) toward the jaguar and its translocation process, and (2) how these psychological constructs are related. We used the social media profiles of the three institutions involved in the process (one responsible for the jaguar rescues, one that supported its recovery, and the one responsible for the jaguar's final destination) and analyzed the comments left by their followers on posts related to the jaguar and the translocation itself during 25 days. A total of 287 comments were analyzed through coding, a categorizing strategy of qualitative analysis; 33 codes were identified. Results showed high admiration for the work done, positive attitudes and emotions, and concern toward the animal. Lack of awareness about the translocation process was high, with comments of curiosity toward the situation being one of the most commonly found. To a lesser extent, people felt sad for the jaguar not being able to return to the wild and criticized the need for translocation. Admiration for the work had a strong relation with gratitude and broader positive perceptions toward the jaguar's story. Criticism related to concern, which was also related to a need for more information and curiosity. Our findings suggest that the public who engaged with those institutions through their Instagram accounts were grateful for seeing the jaguar safe, but were not aware of the complexity of the operation nor about the nature of the conflict with farmers. The public can either reinforce a particular action or jeopardize an entire operation, depending on their perceptions of the matter. In the case of this jaguar, the public held a positive view; however, we acknowledge the limitations of our sample and recommend further analyses Martins et al. Social Repercussion Jaguar Translocation Brazil of social repercussions among people who are not followers of these organizations. Furthermore, we recommend engaging other stakeholders to fully understand the human dimensions of translocating this jaguar. Finally, for social acceptance, we highlight the importance of transparency and reliability of the organizations operating the translocation.

Full text

ORIGINAL RESEARCH
published: 11 January 2022
doi: 10.3389/fcosc.2021.788641
Frontiers in Conservation Science | www.frontiersin.org 1January 2022 | Volume 2 | Article 788641
Edited by:
Carlos R. Ruiz-Miranda,
State University of the North
Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro, Brazil
Reviewed by:
Sérgio Lucena Mendes,
National Institute of Atlantic Forest
(INMA), Brazil
L. Jen Shaffer,
University of Maryland, United States
*Correspondence:
Cláudia S. G. Martins
csgmartins@gmail.com
Specialty section:
This article was submitted to
Animal Conservation,
a section of the journal
Frontiers in Conservation Science
Received: 03 October 2021
Accepted: 13 December 2021
Published: 11 January 2022
Citation:
Martins CSG, Engel MT,
Guimarães MA, Paolino RM, Schulz F
and Esteves CF (2022) Social
Repercussion of Translocating a
Jaguar in Brazil.
Front. Conserv. Sci. 2:788641.
doi: 10.3389/fcosc.2021.788641
Social Repercussion of Translocating
a Jaguar in Brazil
Cláudia S. G. Martins 1
*, Mônica T. Engel 2, Maria Augusta Guimarães 3,
Roberta M. Paolino 3,4 , Francine Schulz 1and Carolina Franco Esteves 1
1Institute for the Conservation of Neotropical Carnivores, Petrolina, Brazil, 2Geography Department, Memorial University of
Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John’s, NL, Canada, 3Wildlife Ecology, Management and Conservation Lab, Forest Science
Department, “Luiz de Queiroz” College of Agriculture, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil, 4Lab of Ecology and
Conservation, Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
The translocation of “problem-animals” is a common non-lethal strategy to deal with
human-wildlife conflict. While processes of wildlife translocation have been widely
documented, little is known about the social repercussions that take place once the
capture and the return of a problem-animal to its natural habitat fail and it has to be
permanently placed in captivity. We investigated how the public, an important stakeholder
in wildlife conservation, perceived the translocation of a female jaguar to a wildlife
captivity center. The objectives were to (1) assess the public’s perceptions (e.g., attitudes,
emotions, awareness) toward the jaguar and its translocation process, and (2) how
these psychological constructs are related. We used the social media profiles of the
three institutions involved in the process (one responsible for the jaguar rescues, one
that supported its recovery, and the one responsible for the jaguar’s final destination)
and analyzed the comments left by their followers on posts related to the jaguar and
the translocation itself during 25 days. A total of 287 comments were analyzed through
coding, a categorizing strategy of qualitative analysis; 33 codes were identified. Results
showed high admiration for the work done, positive attitudes and emotions, and concern
toward the animal. Lack of awareness about the translocation process was high, with
comments of curiosity toward the situation being one of the most commonly found.
To a lesser extent, people felt sad for the jaguar not being able to return to the wild
and criticized the need for translocation. Admiration for the work had a strong relation
with gratitude and broader positive perceptions toward the jaguar’s story. Criticism
related to concern, which was also related to a need for more information and curiosity.
Our findings suggest that the public who engaged with those institutions through their
Instagram accounts were grateful for seeing the jaguar safe, but were not aware of the
complexity of the operation nor about the nature of the conflict with farmers. The public
can either reinforce a particular action or jeopardize an entire operation, depending on
their perceptions of the matter. In the case of this jaguar, the public held a positive view;
however, we acknowledge the limitations of our sample and recommend further analyses

Martins et al. Social Repercussion Jaguar Translocation Brazil
of social repercussions among people who are not followers of these organizations.
Furthermore, we recommend engaging other stakeholders to fully understand the human
dimensions of translocating this jaguar. Finally, for social acceptance, we highlight the
importance of transparency and reliability of the organizations operating the translocation.
Keywords: social media, human-wildlife conflict, conservation institutions, public impact, code analysis
INTRODUCTION
Human-wildlife conflict (HWC) is a growing worldwide issue,
receiving great attention not only by conservationists and
researchers, but by society in general (Frank et al., 2019). The
proximity between people and wildlife and the challenges that
it imposes on both parts has reached such extended levels that
it is impossible to promote conservation without taking the
social aspects into account (Manfredo, 2008). A growing human
population, coupled with agricultural and urban expansion,
has contributed to human-wildlife encounters that oftentimes
leads to conflicts. These conflicts may take the form of direct
interaction with humans, which can result in injuries or fatality to
either the animal or the human, or more indirectly, when crops
are damaged or livestock are injured or killed by the predator.
In both cases, when the animal escapes and continues causing
problems, retaliation is often the strategy adopted to deal with
the situation. Lethal control of “problem-animals,” however, is
polemic, often illegal (when done in the form of poaching), and
contributes to the decline of the species population in the wild,
exacerbating the problem (Bergstrom, 2017).
A common non-lethal strategy to deal with human-wildlife
conflict is the translocation of problem-animals (Weise et al.,
2014; Nyhus, 2016; Berger-Tal et al., 2020). Translocation refers
to the process of capturing, moving and releasing an animal from
an area to another for the purpose of conservation (Linnell et al.,
1997; Craven et al., 1998; Berger-Tal et al., 2020). Intended to
reduce conflicts, this non-lethal strategy is typically well-accepted
among the public (Linnell et al., 1997). The problem, however,
arises when the animal keeps returning to the conflict area. In
sound situations, wild animals can sometimes be relocated to
wildlife sanctuaries and kept in captivity for the remaining of
their lives.
In the Caatinga domain, a Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest
located in Northeast Brazil, conflicts between humans and
carnivores are marked by a strong and historical secular
tradition of free-grazing livestock, and are mostly related to
the depredation of domestic animals, generally resulting in
the persecution and slaughter of jaguars (Panthera onca) and
pumas (Puma concolor) (da Silva et al., 2017). A recurrent
event of depredation within the Environmental Protected Area
of “Boqueirão da Onça,” located in the north of the state of
Bahia, resulted in two apprehensions and rescues of a 12-years
old female jaguar (later named Luísa). Different people and
institutions were mobilized for the translocation of this animal,
but the return of the jaguar to the wild was not successful; mainly
due to the advanced age of the jaguar and its repeated behavior
of predating domestic animals. According to local authorities
involved in this endeavor, after careful analysis of the situation
it was decided to translocate the jaguar to a legal wildlife captivity
center. Based on the definition of translocation, we consider
“a translocation effort” every time that the jaguar was captured
and moved to another area, different from the location where it
was captured.
While the success, or failure, of translocating an animal has
been widely documented (e.g., Weise et al., 2014; Berger-Tal et al.,
2020; Hoogesteijn et al., 2020), little is known about the social
repercussions of removing (i.e., translocating) a problem-animal
from the wild and placing it in captivity to avoid further conflict
with humans and potentially a premature death; particularly
among those who financially support the organizations involved
in the process. Wildlife conservation is intimately related to
interpersonal relationships (Manfredo, 2008). Thus, identifying,
describing, and understanding the human dimensions of wildlife
translocation is paramount to an appropriate, ethical and
conciliatory management.
The objectives of this paper were to assess the public’s
perceptions (e.g., attitudes, emotions, awareness) toward the
jaguar and its translocation process, and how these psychological
constructs are related. The public in this case refer to those
people who do not necessarily live in the community or region
where the conflict happened (as locals were already involved
in the process since the beginning; details in the Case Study
description), but people who support the organizations involved.
With the growing popularity of the internet and the potential
impact of media on public perceptions and awareness of wildlife
(Wu et al., 2018), social media has become a useful source to
examine public views on wildlife issues (Fidino et al., 2018). We
used comments left on Instagram posts published by the three
organizations involved in the translocation of the jaguar (one
responsible for the jaguar rescues and decision-making of every
taken step of translocation, one that supported its recovery, and
the one that became the jaguar’s final destination) to analyze the
social repercussions of this translocation case. This is the first
time that certain aspects of translocating this jaguar have been
analyzed through a human dimensions’ lens.
Case Study—A Jaguar in the Brazilian
Caatinga
The Caatinga, a highly diverse Brazilian semi-arid region, is home
to the largest feline in the Americas, the jaguar, whose population
is fragmented and declining, mainly due to habitat loss and
hunting in retaliation for depredation on goats and sheep (de
Paula et al., 2012). The environmental conditions in the Caatinga,
such as high air and soil temperatures, irregular rainfall, thorny
and deciduous plants, and water scarcity result in adapted and
resilient fauna, flora and local people (known as sertanejo in
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Martins et al. Social Repercussion Jaguar Translocation Brazil
Portuguese). This scenario, intensified by economic, educational,
and health challenges along with lack of governmental assistance
(Martins et al., 2021), perpetuated a rural economic base
sustained by extensive goat and sheep farming and small-scale
agriculture. This was inherited from the colonial system with
the sugar mills (large slave-owning properties with sugar cane
plantations for processing and producing sugar and aguardente)
in the coastal cities. The sertões served as the yard for the
livestock of these sugar mills’ owners in the dry season, when
the vaqueiros (cowboys) commitment was to drive livestock into
hinterland and its highlands, where it would stay for grazing
in the wild for 5 or 6 months. When the sugar engines lost
their economic prominence, the vaqueiros lost their role, left
embedded in something like a nomadic state-of-mind and able to
replicate the model of free-ranging for the rough cattle he could
afford: goats and sheep (Andrade, 1963). Jaguars and sertanejos
have learned to live in the Caatinga, taking advantage of its
resources and sharing the territory. Despite sharing the same
environment, their relationship, however, is not of harmonious
coexistence, and the imbalance of this relationship is the great
generator of HWC.
The Northeast region of Brazil is the one that historically
and culturally presents the greatest hunting pressure (Bragagnolo
et al., 2019). It is also one of the inland regions with the greatest
potential for renewable energy as wind and solar plants (Neri
et al., 2019). The increasing development of these renewable
energy projects modifies the habitat and behavior of these
cats, by clearing vegetation, opening roads, excessive artificial
light, intense circulation of people and vehicles and noise
from turbines (Helldin et al., 2012). These factors combined
with a decline of the jaguar’s natural prey and the presence
of free-ranging herds, contributes to an increase in livestock
depredation events and consequently retaliation. Thus, programs
and projects to reduce livestock depredation by large felines
and the consequent retaliatory killing are crucial to short and
long-term mitigation actions.
The female jaguar was rescued twice from caves (dolines), after
being cornered and trapped by local residents for preying on
sheep. The team from the Programa Amigos da Onça (PAO), a
regional program of a Brazilian NGO and one of the institutions
analyzed in this study, was contacted to help in the situation. Due
to the complexity of the mission, the team mobilized in the first
rescue (in two attempts) involved 12 professionals from different
areas and it took 22 days to capture the jaguar. Very weakened
by being held for a long time without food and water, the jaguar
was immediately taken to an enclosure in the nearest wild animal
rehabilitation center (Cemafauna/UNIVASF-Caatinga), where its
sex, age, and physical condition were assessed. Community
engagement began at this stage, which proved to be of paramount
importance for the jaguar’s post-devolution survival in the wild.
On the occasion, the residents were gathered several times to
be informed about the situation and oriented by one team
member of PAO about the importance of adopting actions
that would allow the coexistence with jaguars and pumas in
the region. After 2 months of rehabilitation, it was decided to
return the jaguar to the wild, fitted with a GPS-satellite collar
for remote monitoring. The release of the jaguar was carried
out about 18 km from the point of its rescue, in an area of
caatinga vegetation.
After 4 months of telemetry monitoring, the jaguar
movements were again close to the areas where the domestic
herds grazed in the native vegetation. Some frightening devices
were undertaken at the location, making use of primary
repellents as alternative measures in preventing depredation and
damage to livestock (Shivik et al., 2003; Gese, 2006). In addition,
a farmer close to the area where the jaguar was passing by was
instructed by the personnel responsible for monitoring it to
confine his sheep for a month. Despite the extreme investment
effort due to the unbearable cost of feed for the locals, the farmer
complied with the suggestion. These combined actions were
aimed at keeping the jaguar away and avoiding retaliation in
case of further attacks. The preventive actions, however, were
not effective to deter the jaguar from preying on the local herds
and the PAO team was contacted again by locals to rescue the
jaguar from another nearby cave. A team of eight professionals
was mobilized for a second rescue and the weakened jaguar was
captured after 15 days of imprisonment. After a new evaluation,
a generalized oral infection was identified in the jaguar and
two specialists from AMPARA Silvestre were sent to perform
the treatment. It was necessary to decide its destination after
the recovery. Considering its physical conditions, its age, the
specific environmental characteristics of the Caatinga and the
persisting conflict with livestock farmers, the team involved
with the case decided to keep the jaguar in captivity. As final
destination, the jaguar was sent to NEX Institute, a wildlife
captivity center, with the authorization of the Chico Mendes
Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio), a national
agency linked to the Ministry of Environment and responsible
for wildlife management and protected areas. Therefore, Luísa
became the only jaguar of Caatinga kept in captivity, making it a
valuable resource for science as a reservoir of a genetic heritage
of a poorly known population.
This jaguar represents many other jaguars (and pumas) in
the Caatinga, sharing territory with the local communities of
sertanejos, and bringing challenges to in situ conservation efforts
for the species. The conflicts with big cats are not easy to solve
and involve ethical issues with different scenarios, social groups
and institutions. Although the jaguar has not been able to return
to the wild, the success in this particular case lies primarily in
its survival and also in the engagement between the PAO team
and the community over the years, showing mutual trust and
cooperative work.
METHODS
Data Collection
The social media repercussions of a jaguar translocation was
analyzed from three different Instagram profiles: (1) Programa
Amigos da Onça: grandes predadores e sociobiodiversidade na
Caatinga (PAO), of the Institute for the Conservation of
Neotropical Carnivores, which works with the conservation of
big cats in Caatinga biome and was responsible for organizing
the jaguar rescues in partnership with other environmental
institutions, companies, fire brigade and army, as well as its
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Martins et al. Social Repercussion Jaguar Translocation Brazil
health care and final translocation; (2) AMPARA Silvestre, a
Civil Society Organization of Public Interest (acronym OSCIP in
Portuguese) responsible for the jaguar’s specific health treatment
and translocation for the permanent captivity; and (3) Instituto
NEX—No Extinction, a NGO that maintains specimens of native
wildlife in captivity for carrying out and subsidizing conservation
programs, and that received the legal guard of the jaguar in
permanent captivity in the Midwest Brazil.
All three profiles created social media content (posts) on
Instagram in February of 2021, when the jaguar was translocated
from Northeast to Midwest Brazil. NEX and AMPARA did
the first post on February 6th, when the jaguar started its
journey to the center, while PAO did the first publication about
the jaguar on February 14th, 1 week later. The publications
created by PAO were made in a series of four posts, one
per day, reporting the whole detailed story about the jaguar,
including the two different rescues, the treatments that it
received, the difficulties of capturing it, the jaguar releasing
attempt, the communities involved with the jaguar and its
final destination to permanent captivity at NEX. The post
also mentioned the reasons for not returning the jaguar to
the wild. AMPARA created only one post on February 6th telling
a short story about the jaguar’s trajectory, translocation, and
final destination to captivity at NEX. This institution (NEX)
created several posts about the jaguar, most of them focused
on leveraging money for its new inhabitant. The first post, on
February 6th, was about the jaguar traveling and anticipated
arrival to its new home. Due to the large number of posts
created by NEX related to the jaguar case, we selected the
first five made during a 7-day interval (from February 06th to
February 12th).
The subject of this study was the general public represented
by the followers of the Instagram profiles of the three institutions
considered in the translocation of the jaguar. No connection was
established between individuals’ Instagram profiles and reactive
comments to the institution’s posts. Moreover, to keep the
subjects anonymous and follow the ethics requirements, no data
from the Instagram profiles was collected, we have only assessed
the origin of the commenters (national or international). For
the purpose of this analysis, we only considered comments left
until March 02nd, 2021—about 15 days after the last post made
by PAO—accounting for 25 days in total. Hence, we analyzed
comments from a total of 281 different profiles, 279 national
and written in Portuguese and two internationals written in
Spanish. From this total, 22 profiles commented on PAO, 86
on AMPARA, and 173 on NEX posts. Two profiles commented
both on PAO and AMPARA posts, while 12 profiles commented
both on AMPARA and NEX posts, and three commented both
on PAO and NEX posts. The comments and replies made by
the original Instagram profiles (PAO, AMPARA, and NEX) were
not analyzed, nor were the comments containing just “emojis”
(varied small images, symbols or icons used for electronic
communication to express the emotional attitude of the writer,
without the need to use words). Thus, we analyzed a total of
287 comments (23 from PAO, 58 from AMPARA, and 206
from NEX).
Social Repercussion Analysis
We analyzed the comments following a categorization strategy
of qualitative analysis, called coding, in the software Atlas.ti
9.0 (Scientific Software Development GmbH). This method
organizes data based on similarities and differences in relation to
the subjects of interest, being useful to organize and compare the
data and to know which topics appear in a speech (Maxwell and
Miller, 2008; Maxwell, 2012). Firstly, we transcribed faithfully
all comments (except the ones with only emojis) in three Word
documents, each document according to each institution. Then
these documents were imported by the software Atlas.ti and
we began the process of coding. Initially, we created citations
for each written comment and then we attributed one or more
codes for each citation. Codes are substantive categories that
describe concepts and beliefs of the subjects of the study. These
substantive categories are topics closed to data that help to
understand ideas of the participants and the researchers. The
codes were then grouped into organizational categories that
represent broader subjects of research interest (Maxwell and
Miller, 2008; Maxwell, 2012). For instance, “financial support”
was a substantive category created inside the organizational
category called “engagement.” There were no predetermined
codes before the analysis began, so we decided to create both
codes and groups of codes during the analysis according to the
characteristics of the comments and the subjects that appeared.
For instance, the sentence “Thanks for the attention, this episode
is very sad, congratulations to all those who were involved”
received the codes “gratitude,” “sadness,” and “admiration for
work.” Thus, we didn’t prioritize any sentence or concept. All
the sentences were analyzed and received at least one code. This
process of coding was done by three authors simultaneously, so
we could discuss the concepts according to the sentences in order
to avoid misunderstandings. We read the sentences together and
then each one spoke which code should be used, or if a new
code appeared and should be created. We then discussed until we
reached an agreement and codified the citation. This process was
also important to avoid the subjectivity of only one researcher.
We then evaluated the social repercussions of the translocation
by analyzing the frequency of each code (the number of citations
codified with it) and the content of them.
In order to assess how participants’ reactions and beliefs
interact and the relationship among the topics of social
repercussion, we performed an analysis of co-occurrence of
codes. This is a function of analysis in Atlas.ti that shows which
codes appear simultaneously in the same citation/sentence, as
well as the frequencies of these co-occurrences. It is possible to
select one or more specific codes to check its co-occurrence with
other codes, or select all codes. In this case, we chose to verify
the co-occurrence among all the codes, because we didn’t have
a specific interest in a particular code. The software enables us to
create a co-occurrence table (Supplementary Table S1), in which
we can visualize the frequencies of co-occurrence among the
codes, and also a Sankey diagram to graphically represent these
relationships. We present here the Sankey diagram, which makes
it easy to visualize the associations among the codes. Once the
table is created, the cell representing the co-occurrence of codes
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Martins et al. Social Repercussion Jaguar Translocation Brazil
is filled with the number of times the codes occurred together.
In the Sankey Diagram, this co-occurrence will be represented
by an edge, and the codes will be represented by nodes. The
width of the edge is proportional to the quantity of frequencies
of co-occurrence.
RESULTS
It is important to note that our results strictly represent
the comments that were made about the specific posts of
each institution, in the time period cited in the methodology.
We categorized 33 codes, which were distributed in eight
organizational categories (group of codes): admiration, attitude,
characteristics of the jaguar, emotions and feelings, engagement,
perception, criticism, and information (Table 1).
The frequency of all codes is listed in Figure 1. Admiration
toward the institutions’ work was, by far, the code with
the highest number of citations (104 times). Comments like
“congratulations” and “wonderful work” were the most cited in
this category, which related to the other five codes that had the
most significant presence: “hope” (46 citations), “curiosity” (45
citations), “positive perception” (38 citations), and “gratitude”
(32 citations). “Hope” was related to the expectations about the
future of the jaguar. For instance, comments like “good luck”
and “a long and happy life for her” [referring to the jaguar]
were frequent in this category. In the category “curiosity,” all the
questions about the jaguar’s situation, its story and possible ways
to help were coded.
A frequent question was if the jaguar would return to the
wild and why it was unable to feed by itself, and what had
happened to its teeth. “Positive perception” was related to the
reactions toward the jaguar’s story, which was described in the
posts. In this category there were comments like “fantastic story”
and “amazing.” There were no negative perceptions about the
jaguar’s story, but we computed nine comments that were coded
as “negative perception,” all of them related to humankind, like
“planet Earth would be thankful if that kind of people was
completely extinct” [referring to those who pursue and poach
jaguars]. The fifth most frequent code, “gratitude,” was related to
people who were thanking the institutions: “Thank you for your
dedication and love to these beautiful animals.”
“Welcoming” (25 citations) and “nominations” (23 citations)
also had an expressive frequency. “Nominations” was a code
included in the category called “characteristics of the jaguar,” that
was related to all the words used in reference to the jaguar Luísa,
like warrior, darling, beloved, brave, precious and poor thing.
We found that within this variety of adjectives used by people
to describe the jaguar, “warrior” was the most cited.
The codes “concern,” “information,” and “financial support”
came eighth in the general frequency of codes (18 citations each).
The code “information” was related to all kinds of informative
contents posted by people, like details about the institutions, the
jaguar’s story, the species, the Caatinga biome, etc. It occurred
only in posts posted by NEX. In general, we found that these
comments were a way to interact with the institution and with
other followers, as sometimes comments were responses to the
TABLE 1 | A list of all the items that were coded in the posts of NEX, AMPARA e
PAO.
Group of
codes
Codes Examples
Admiration Admiration for the
community
Admiration for work
God bless the woman who called the
person who could save Luísa
What a wonderful work!
Attitude Attitude
toward conservation
Loving is protecting!
Jaguar’s
characteristics
Appearance
Bravery
Fragility
Age
Nominations
Resilience
She looks healthy!
She is a warrior! A survival!
So fragile!
She is an old lady!
Princess!
Such a unique resilience!
Emotions /
feelings
Love
Anxiety
Happiness
Caused emotion
Gratitude
Proud
Pity
Concern
Sadness
Curiosity
Astonishment
Identification
Hoping
Welcoming
We love you!
I hope you arrive soon, Luísa!
I am glad to know that she is fine!
Luísa’s story is very touching!
Thanks to NEX for receiving her!
Such an honor filming her when she
was released.
Poor thing, she must be very scared.
Won’t she come back to nature?
All this is so sad!
How did Luísa get there?
Such a horror!
My compatriot!
Luísa, I hope you will be very happy in
your new home.
Welcome to Nex, Luísa.
Engagement Financial support
Divulgation
Aid offering
Following media
Suggestion of actions
Defense of the institution
I made a donation today!
I will share it on my Facebook.
Count on me!
I am following the story and waiting
for the next chapters!
We need to make a national
campaign of consciousness.
Take a look in the previous posts to
understand NEX’s work, instead of
comparing it with another one.
Perception Negative perception
Positive perception
Unfortunately, she is one more victim
of men’s destructive actions.
What a wonderful story!
Criticism Criticism It makes no sense keeping her
in captivity.
Information Information The jaguars of caatinga are the
smallest of the species.
questions of others. The third emotion most codified in the
category “emotions and feelings” was “concern.” After “hope”
and “gratitude,” people expressed in various comments their
concern about the jaguar’s health and safety. Some comments
involving concern also were related to the species in general.
The comments related to donations were codified as “financial
support.” They were related especially to NEX, which announced
its bank account in one post, and launched a campaign to build
an appropriate place for its newly arrived jaguar. “Financial
support” also occurred in one comment of PAO. There were also
people who offered other kinds of help, like sharing the post
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Martins et al. Social Repercussion Jaguar Translocation Brazil
FIGURE 1 | The comparison of the frequency of all codes (number of citations) attributed to the Instagram comments of NEX, AMPARA, and PAO.
to spread the jaguar’s story (“Divulgation”—six citations) and
making themselves available for anything (“aid offering”—one
citation in NEX). The engagement of people was noticed also by
their interest in following the institutions, to keep informed about
the jaguar’s situation (“following media”—five citations) and by
their answers to other followers’ critics, defending especially the
NEX institution (“defense of the institution”—three citations).
This theme did not occur in the other two institutions.
Comparing the frequency of the codes between the three
institutions (Figure 1), we found that “admiration for work” was
the most frequent in all of them. NEX received this code 62
times, AMPARA 32 times and PAO, 10 times. “Curiosity” was the
second most frequent code in NEX (38 citations). Considering
PAO, the second most frequent code in this institution was
“positive perception” (six citations). This code had a large
frequency also in NEX (23 citations) and AMPARA (nine
citations). Regarding AMPARA, “hope” was its second most
frequent code (14 citations). This code did not appear in PAO
whereas was the third most frequent in NEX.
In PAO we noticed two codes that received the same
frequency in the third position: “curiosity” and “attitude toward
conservation” had four citations. In AMPARA, there were also
two codes that came third: “gratitude” and “positive perception.”
The code “gratitude” also had an expressive frequency in NEX (23
citations, the fifth most frequent), and did not appear in PAO.
“Welcoming,” the fourth most frequent code in NEX, was not
mentioned neither in PAO nor in AMPARA. We noticed that all
the comments that were coded as “attitude toward conservation”
were related to a positive attitude, like people saying that nature
is perfect, that all animals deserve love and respect and that it is
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Martins et al. Social Repercussion Jaguar Translocation Brazil
necessary to protect them. This code also occurred five times in
AMPARA and seven times in NEX.
The relationships between all topics that appeared in public
comments are shown in the Sankey diagram (Figure 2), a
graphic representation of the co-occurrence of all codes. It
shows how the most frequent coded item, “admiration for
work,” is related to various other topics, especially “nominations,”
positive perception,” “appearance,” “hope,” “gratitude,” “financial
support,” “attitude toward conservation,” “concern,” and “defense
of the institution.” That means that there were two or more codes
occurring in the same sentence, as seen in: “Her story is so sad,
but I’m glad she will be well-cared for! Congratulations for your
work and thanks for your existence!”
The code “concern,” with a high frequency, co-occurred with
“curiosity,” “happiness,” and “information,” e.g., some comments
indicated that people were concerned about the jaguar’s safety,
and at the same time curious, asking for more information about
its story and happy that it was safe. There were also some people
who criticized the institution because they disagreed with the idea
of captivity, or because they thought a human name for the jaguar
could stimulate wildlife domestication, showing concern about
the individual and the species.
The item “nominations” also co-occurred with many
other topics, like “gratitude,” “hope,” “love,” “attitude toward
conservation,” “pity,” and “curiosity.” We found that it was
usually the comments in which people were thanking the
institution, showing admiration for the work, expressing some
feeling for the jaguar and using adjectives or substantives to refer
to her, for instance. “Welcome Luísa! You will soon understand
that people from NEX are just trying to help! Be very happy, big
cat!” is an example.
“Attitude toward conservation” co-occurred with two codes
related to engagement: “suggestion of actions” and “divulgation.”
We noticed that some people who had a positive attitude toward
topics related to conservation and nature, revealed a willingness
to do something, like sharing the posts in social media, or
talking to authorities to protect the animals. This topic also co-
occurred with “positive perception,” “resilience,” “identification,”
and “happiness.” Here we noticed that people appreciated the
jaguar’s story, associating it with a resilient animal, because of its
suffering and persistence, and expressed happiness because it was
alive, despite all the challenges it had to face. In addition, some
comments indicated that the jaguar Luísa changed into a symbol,
representing the struggle of all jaguars from Caatinga.
DISCUSSION
In this study, we investigated how followers and supporters of
three organizations that were responsible for solving a case of
human-jaguar conflict perceived the translocation process of the
so-called problem-animal and its removal from the wild. We used
social media as a first approach to analyse a sensitive subject
(i.e., human-jaguar conflict in the Brazilian Caatinga) that is still
little known by the general public. This translocation is unique,
considering circumstances such as the double rescue of the same
individual, captured, and trapped in a cave twice for the same
farmer, who in turn, warned a representative of the regional
program of jaguar and puma conservation twice; thus, indicating
willingness to solve the problem without eliminating the animal.
Aware of the commotion surrounding the story of this female
jaguar, this article is pioneering the investigation of stakeholder’s
perceptions toward the jaguar’s translocation. More specifically,
we assessed the perceptions of a stakeholder that was not directly
involved with the conflict nor the translocations, but that have
the power to influence conservation efforts by either voicing their
views and concerns on social media (Greenspan et al., 2021), or
donating money to the organizations involved.
While translocating wildlife from a conflict zone back to
the wild tends to be socially acceptable (Linnell et al., 1997),
results have shown that removing the jaguar from its natural
habitat and placing it in captivity for the rest of its life caused
FIGURE 2 | The Sankey diagram shows the co-occurrence of all citations that were coded in the posts of NEX, AMPARA, and PAO.
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Martins et al. Social Repercussion Jaguar Translocation Brazil
discomfort among people. Oftentimes people are not fully
aware of the role of true wildlife sanctuaries in caring for wild
animals that cannot remain free in their natural habitat (Doyle,
2017). This lack of understanding and differentiation between
ethical or unethical sanctuaries and other wildlife enclosures
that use animals to attract people, may be causing people to
feel uncomfortable (Doyle, 2017). Our findings indicate that this
feeling of discomfort relates to a negative perception toward
humankind, more specifically, toward people who kill jaguars
as retaliation for livestock depredation. Furthermore, a positive
attitude toward conservation seems to indicate a relation between
concern toward the jaguar and concern with both the individual
and the species. The opposite attitude and the discomfort with
keeping the jaguar in captivity may also be linked with a lack
of knowledge about the role of translocation and the removal
of an animal from the wild as a means to solve a conflict
situation with humans. It may even be related to a lack of
knowledge about HWC itself as pity and compassion were
turned to the predator and rage and intolerance were turned
to humans. The code related to the institutions showed that
admiration prevailed among other variables assessed. Although
PAO is the institution closest to the jaguar and most familiar
with the local context, with representatives leading every step of
the operational interventions, it received less recognition than
the other two other institutions. This may have happened due
to the different strategies used by the institutions. For instance,
while PAO uses its Instagram profile to disseminate information
and knowledge about conservation more broadly (not specific to
a single individual), AMPARA and NEX use their profiles more
with an emotional appeal to leverage funds for their organizations
and raise awareness (typically focusing on single individuals).
Cemafauna, the rescue center closer to where the conflict took
place and the organization that performed a key role in the rescue
and recovery of the jaguar, was not acknowledged in any reactive
comments, despite being mentioned by PAO posts as a partner
in the operation. Our data and analyses do not allow for an in-
depth examination of the reasons for this disparity of reactions,
but we wonder if it was a matter of AMPARA and NEX having
more followers and supporters, or because AMPARA and NEX
were simply more aware than PAO on how to engage the public
on social media. Inevitably two questions arise, (1) what is the
relation between trust and credibility of institutions in general,
their mediatic prominence and their ecological relevance in the
conservation of wildlife, and (2) institutional reputation turned
the spotlight to jaguar (individual and species) conservation, or
the uniqueness of this jaguar’s story added credibility and trust to
the institutions?
Our findings showed a high number of messages coded as
“welcoming” (25 citations) and as “nominations” (23 citations).
Both were addressed to the jaguar, as if it could read the
comments in its own Instagram profile. Several “nominations”
given to the jaguar correspond to human attributes and some
“welcoming” citations cut the link to the jaguar’s natural habitat.
The borderline between caring for an individual unable to remain
in the wild, and the distorted or exacerbated feelings that may
pave the way for attempts (or willingness) of domestication
(or undue proximity to humans), is too tenuous and may
be counterproductive in terms of wildlife conservation. Some
comments shared this concern when people criticized the choice
of a human name for the jaguar and the option for its captivity.
Using social media to analyze people’s perceptions toward
wildlife has limitations like any other analytical tool. However,
given the rise of these platforms, like Instagram, it has become
an advantageous means of investigating discussions on wildlife
(Wu et al., 2018), shedding light on some important remarks.
Although we were unable to assess perceptions toward the
translocation from the public at-large or from those directly
impacted by the human-jaguar conflict, our investigation allowed
us to obtain enough data to have a sense of how the target
public (i.e., social media followers) perceived the translocation
of a charismatic and endangered species. People far from
HWC zones are important for wildlife conservation and a key
stakeholder. Those Instagram followers tend to cooperate with
conservation efforts by donating money used for infrastructure
needed for the animals, food, and by disseminating information
related to HWC. Thus, institutions already reliable for their
values, norms and operational efforts, must take into account
that any communication has to be accurate and transparent.
Knowledge is one of the first human dimensions assessed in
HWC. Although institutions like AMPARA, NEX, or PAO are
not educational institutions, their visibility and wide range
along with the relevance of their role as maintainers of wild
species, mostly charismatic species (AMPARA, NEX) and as
conservationists (researchers and practitioners) (PAO), increase
their commitment in providing precise biological and ecological
information accessible to specialists and the public in general. As
pointed out by Wu et al. (2018), social media can be a powerful
tool to strengthen public awareness of wildlife conservation.
Many comments started by responding to the content of the
post and then changed its focus to more general and complex
discussions about human-nature relations. This change in the
discourse suggests that the case of the jaguar acted as a catalyst
of broader reflections of wildlife management and conservation,
thus showing the power social media has on generating debate
among the public. What human dimensions of HWC and
wildlife management would arise with the repetition of the
analysis? Our results indicate that the studied public is likely
to embrace Luísa as an ambassador for jaguar (and maybe
even puma) conservation in the Caatinga. Therefore, the case
of Luísa may become a showcase for strengths and weaknesses
of conflict mitigation measures in order to help management
agencies, and a symbol of what are the final outcomes if
governance of natural resources is weak or absent, for both men
and beast. Once people learn better with storytelling (Bogner,
1999), the potential of fostering knowledge and enhancing
pro-conservation behaviors increases with an individual that
stimulates the human dimensions beyond cognitive aspects.
Therefore, this individual would have fulfilled a purpose to
science as valuable as the genetic pool within it.
We acknowledge that there are other stakeholders involved
in the translocation event described here (e.g., conservationists,
governmental authorities, the local community). Therefore,
future research should investigate the views, concerns and
attitudes of all stakeholders who were involved in the
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Martins et al. Social Repercussion Jaguar Translocation Brazil
translocation so as to have a better picture of the implications
of this effort for the conservation of jaguars in the Brazilian
Caatinga and beyond. Furthermore, it would be beneficial
to encourage the organizations AMPARA, NEX, and PAO
to bring the subject (translocation and the jaguar) back to
their social media accounts in a coordinated and cooperatively
way, to repeat the methodology of this study and investigate
other dimensions like engagement, leveling of concepts and
transparency, for example. Based on our findings, we recommend
that wildlife management agencies and institutions that keep
captive animals align their posture and speech to establish a good
foundation for continuous and savvy public engagement with in
situ conservation.
CONCLUSION
The success of the translocation started where the conflict
arose: the farmer that was affected by the jaguar’s depredation
trapped the animal in the cave and contacted the regional
representative for jaguar and puma conservation program
(PAO). The animal was old and unable to feed on
natural prey and the farmer was exposed to the conflict
with a predator. Several institutions collaborated and
the translocation to the captivity at NEX was done
successfully, being reported on social media, engaging an
external public.
Our results showed that people cared, were concerned and
engaged with interventions involving charismatic species. This
finding is of particular importance for wildlife conservation as it
motivates people to financially support projects and institutions
committed to ex situ conservation. Furthermore, it provides
a window of opportunity for education for conservation and
behavior change programs, either for those impacted by the
HWC or for those who watch from afar. People looked after the
welfare of a single animal and gave their help and support. But
people also cared for the species and the wildlife in general. That
awareness must encourage institutions and wildlife management
agencies to improve their communication objectives, content and
skills, to go beyond the survival and welfare of an individual
that will be kept in captivity to the end of its life and effectively
promote coexistence, through conservation in situ of endangered
species and their habitats and improvement of quality of human
life within its traditional livelihoods.
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
The original contributions presented in the study are included
in the article/Supplementary Material, further inquiries can be
directed to the corresponding author/s.
ETHICS STATEMENT
Ethical review and approval was not required for the study
on human participants in accordance with the local legislation
and institutional requirements. Written informed consent for
participation was not required for this study in accordance with
the national legislation and the institutional requirements.
AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS
FS organized the database. RP, FS, and MG analyzed the data.
CE, FS, RP, ME, MG, and CM wrote the previous and current
version of the document. All authors contributed to the article
and approved the submitted version.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We sincerely thank all followers for expressing their views about
the jaguar that allowed us to conduct this analysis, AMPARA
and NEX - No extinction, for their amazing work and the role
they fulfill while inform and raise awareness for the threats on
wildlife in Brazil, and also the Wildlife Ecology, Management
and Conservation Lab and the Forest Science Department of
University of São Paulo, which contributed with the physical and
logistical resources to MG and RP during the time dedicated to
this work.
SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL
The Supplementary Material for this article can be found
online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcosc.
2021.788641/full#supplementary-material
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Conflict of Interest: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the
absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a
potential conflict of interest.
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