Publication link:
https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/csp2.126

Mongabay Nov. 01, 2019 10:11AM EST Popular A jaguar in Mato Grosso Sur, Brazil. Steve Winter / National Geographic

By Mike Gaworecki

Jaguars face a number of threats, from habitat destruction and fragmentation for agriculture to poaching, trophy hunting and retaliatory killings by ranchers. The cats are estimated to have lost nearly half of their historic range and to have declined by as much as
20 to 25 percent over the past three generations, which is why the species is listed as nearly threatened on the IUCN Red List.

According to research published in the journal Conservation Science and Practice earlier this month, there may be an overlooked threat facing this most iconic of species: the booming ayahuasca tourism industry.

The trade in jaguar body parts is growing across Latin America, particularly in Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Peru and Suriname. Over the past few years, the most…