ABSTRACT Human‐tiger conflict is widely assumed to intensify as tiger populations recover, posing a major challenge for the conservation of tigers across its range. Despite the influence of this assumption on management and public perception, it has rarely been examined using range‐wide evidence. We conducted a broad, exploratory synthesis of associations between tiger population trends and reported conflict incidents across ten tiger range countries between 2010 and 2025, a period marked by substantial global tiger recovery. Using harmonised country‐year data compiled from heterogeneous sources, we assessed whether increases in tiger abundance were consistently associated with changes in human fatalities, livestock depredation, and overall conflict incidents, and examined how selected ecological, anthropogenic, and management covariates aligned with observed patterns. Across the compiled dataset, tiger population size showed no consistent associations except for a weak positive association with human fatalities, although this relationship was highly variable and was sensitive to a small number of observations. In contrast, human population density was positively associated with human fatalities, while protected area coverage was negatively associated with human fatalities. Wild prey density showed no detectable association with any conflict outcome at the national scale. Given the aggregated, partially interpolated, and non‐experimental nature of the data, all detected relationships are interpreted as associative rather than causal. Nonetheless, our findings contradict the pervasive narrative that tiger recovery inevitably escalates conflict. Instead, conflict patterns appear contingent on human exposure, land‐use context, and management conditions, rather than carnivore abundance alone. These findings highlight the importance of integrating population recovery with strategies that reduce human–tiger interaction to support long‐term coexistence and conservation of tigers in shared landscapes.
ABSTRACT In this paper, we propose an operational framework for Jaguar Conservation Units (JCUs), emphasizing the role of private rural properties in conserving jaguar populations in Brazil while mitigating human–jaguar conflicts and supporting the implementation of payments for the species' environmental services. Jaguars ( Panthera onca ) prey on domestic livestock, that can lead to retaliatory killings of jaguars by ranchers. In this context, our study aims to analyze the environmental and economic parameters associated with the ecosystem services provided by jaguars, in order to use JCUs as a starting point to develop a Payment for Environmental Services (PES) scheme to support jaguar conservation. This would involve promoting forest code compliance, maintaining habitat connectivity, and compensating cattle predation, using data from Mato Grosso do Sul (MS), Brazil. Based on spatial analyses of occurrence records, we identified and reshaped three JCUs in MS and evaluated the land use patterns within each one, discussing the basis to implement a PES scheme. Our findings demonstrate the advantages of implementing such schemes and reveal that the cost of maintaining jaguar populations through a PES, with funds from several independent sources, would be feasible and important for one of the largest jaguar populations in Brazil.
ABSTRACT Zoos and aquaria must retain genetic diversity for the species they house if the populations are to remain viable. The cryopreservation and storage of living animal cells is a potential strategy for minimising genetic diversity loss over time, when genetic diversity can be effectively reintroduced in the future as population genetic diversity decreases. Using population simulations, this study investigates the potential impact of using cryopreserved sperm on genetic diversity retention in 18 species of pupfish: a priority taxonomic group for ex‐situ conservation management for the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA). First, genetic diversity simulations were conducted to determine the necessary population sizes required for each species to achieve a 90% genetic diversity target over a short (30‐year) or longer (100‐year) period without the integration of cryopreserved sperm into breeding management, with Ne/N simulated at either 0.05 (worst‐case scenario), 0.1 or 0.3 (best‐case scenario). Subsequently, these simulations were then compared against the required population sizes to achieve the same genetic diversity targets if cryopreserved sperm is used for 100%, 50%, 10% or 1% of breeding attempts. The simulations demonstrate that no species are currently being kept in sufficient numbers to achieve 90% genetic diversity. Specifically, the simulations projected that across the priority species ( n = 18) the average genetic diversity per species by 100 years would be 1.16% (±2.48% SD), 6.13% (±9.25% SD) and 23.57% (±25.28% SD) for Ne/N = 0.05, 0.1 and 0.3 respectively. To achieve the 90% target over 100 years, without the use of cryopreserved sperm (cryoARTs), the mean total number of fish required was 9498, 4747 and 1582 fish if Ne/N = 0.05, 0.1 or 0.3, respectively. Overall, the mean number of fish per species was 138.61 individuals (±128.61 SD) and to achieve the 90% genetic diversity target over 100 years, Ne/N = 0.3, all populations need to be increased by approximately 1400 individuals. Collectively, these scenarios demonstrate rapid loss of genetic diversity unless populations are substantially increased. Across the priority species ( n = 18), if cryoARTs is used at 10% of breeding attempts then the average total number of individual fish required to achieve the 90% genetic diversity target, for Ne/N = 0.05, 0.1 or 0.3, is 910, 455 and 152 fish respectively, over a 100‐year period. This study demonstrates that investment in greater pupfish population sizes in EAZA collections, alongside a strategy involving the integration of cryoARTs into species management, could aid in population viability by improving genetic diversity prospects.
