Recent seizures of jaguar body parts in Bolivia have prompted concern about illegal trade to China, but a detailed understanding of this emerging trade continues to be lacking. We interviewed 1,107 people in a rural area implicated in the trade, using direct and indirect questions through the Ballot Box Method (BBM) to explore the prevalence and characteristics of the illegal jaguar trade and its links to foreign demand. Jaguar trade is a common, and mostly non‐sensitive practice; 46% of respondents reported some involvement over the past 5 years. The most common behavior was owning jaguar body parts, such as skins, fat and teeth for decorative, medicinal, and cultural purposes. The most mentioned traders were Bolivian, followed by traders of Asian descent. However, regression analysis shows that the presence of traders of European descent was more significantly and positively associated with jaguar trade related behaviors, ahead of Asian descent and regional traders. Overall, jaguar trade in Bolivia has more diverse actors and drivers than seizures may suggest. Therefore, conservation interventions, in addition to targeting demand from Chinese wildlife markets, should address other foreign and domestic markets and trade chains.

Illegal trade and human-wildlife conflict are two key drivers of biodiversity loss and are recognized as leading threats to large carnivores. Although human-wildlife conflict involving jaguars (Panthera onca) has received significant attention in the past, less is known about traditional use or commercial trade in jaguar body parts, including their potential links with retaliatory killing. Understanding the drivers of jaguar killing, trade and consumption is necessary to develop appropriate jaguar conservation strategies, particularly as demand for jaguar products appears to be rising due to Chinese demand. We interviewed 1107 rural households in northwestern Bolivia, an area with an active history of human-jaguar conflict, which has also been at the epicentre of recent jaguar trade cases. We collected information on participants' experiences with jaguars, their jaguar killing, trading and consuming behaviours and potential drivers of these behaviours. We found that the relationships between local people and jaguars are complex and are driven largely by traditional practices, opportunism, human-jaguar conflict and market incentives from foreign and domestic demand, in the absence of law awareness and enforcement. Addressing jaguar trade and building human-jaguar coexistence will require a multifaceted approach that considers the multiple drivers of jaguar killing, trade and consumption, from foreign and local demand to human-jaguar conflict.

Recent seizures of jaguar body parts in Bolivia have prompted concern about illegal trade to China, but concrete evidence is lacking. We interviewed 1107 people in a rural area implicated in the trade, using direct and indirect questions to explore the prevalence and characteristics of jaguar trade and its links to foreign demand. Jaguar trade is a common, non-sensitive practice; 46% of respondents reported some involvement over the past 5 years. Up to 31% of respondents owned jaguar body parts, most commonly skins, fat and teeth for decorative, medicinal, and cultural purposes. Contrary to expectations, Bolivians were the most reported traders, and presence of Caucasian traders was significantly and positively associated with jaguar trade, ahead of Asian and regional traders. Overall, jaguar trade in Bolivia has more diverse drivers than seizures may suggest. Therefore, conservation interventions, in addition to targeting Chinese demand, should address foreign and domestic trade chains.

Illegal trade and human-wildlife conflict are two key drivers of biodiversity loss, and are recognized as leading threats to large carnivores. While human-wildlife conflict involving jaguars (Panthera onca) has received significant attention in the past, less is known about traditional use or commercial trade in jaguar body parts, including their potential links with retaliatory killing. Understanding the drivers of jaguar killing, trade and consumption is necessary to develop appropriate jaguar conservation strategies, particularly as demand for jaguar products appears to be rising due to Chinese demand. We interviewed 1107 rural households in north-western Bolivia, an area with an active history of human-jaguar conflict, which has also been at the epicentre of recent jaguar trade cases involving Chinese demand. We collected information on participants’ experiences with jaguars, their jaguar killing, trading and consuming behaviours, and potential drivers of these behaviours. We found that the relationships between local people and jaguars are complex, and are driven largely by traditional practices, opportunism, human-jaguar conflict and market incentives from foreign and domestic demand, in the absence of law awareness and enforcement. Addressing jaguar trade and building human-jaguar coexistence will require a multifaceted approach that considers the multiple drivers of jaguar killing, trade and consumption, from foreign and local demand to human-jaguar conflict.