Realizing coexistence between humans and tigers is an important initiative of tiger recovery in the world. To define the priority management areas (PMAs) to mitigate the human-tiger conflict (HTC) in Laoyeling, where 90% of China's Amur tiger population is living, we analyzed the distribution of tiger habitat and HTC risk, and delineated PMAs for HTC mitigation. The results indicated that 26.77% (1851 km²) of Laoyeling is the most suitable habitat for the Amur tiger. The high-risk area for HTC covers an area of 1173 km², of which 413 km2 is the most suitable habitat for tiger. Among the six PMAs, 374 km² of 1398 km² are located outside protected areas and need to strengthen conservation and management. Our research can contribute to improving the management effectiveness of HTC in Laoyeling and promoting the recovery of the Amur tiger in China.

We estimate the annual mortality of big cats (Panthera onca and Puma concolor) resulting from subsistence hunts in two Amazonian Extractive Reserves. Leveraging data from a participatory biodiversity monitoring program, which records the outcomes of hunting forays, we treat the set of all hunts carried out in a given year, k, as an ensemble of Bernoulli experiments where each hunt may or may not result in a big cat killing with probability p. From this premise, we built a Bayesian model to estimate the number of cats killed as a binomial random variable with parameters k and p. We estimate that 48 (95% CI: 18-92) big cats are killed annually in the study area, which is consistent with an independent estimate for the same area and within the same magnitude as estimates for other Amazonian sites. Our findings underscore the contribution of subsistence hunting to big cat mortality.

Human-wildlife conflict (HWC) poses a significant threat to both human livelihoods and conservation, particularly for large, potentially dangerous species such as big cats. Here, we provide an overview of community camera trapping (CCT) and the expanded community camera-trapping plus (CCT+) programs, which are innovative, inclusive approaches that can help reduce conflict and improve coexistence. We illustrate how CCT, through a combination of participatory monitoring and tangible benefits directly linked to wildlife presence, helps create initial changes in attitude and tolerance towards big cats and other wildlife. CCT+ builds on this by introducing additional incentives and disincentives that promote conservation-friendly behavior change, leading to tangible improvements in coexistence. We explain the approaches, highlight key aspects for practitioners to consider, and discuss the potential to scale these approaches to strengthen human-wildlife coexistence across diverse contexts.

There is increasing global interest in developing market-based financial mechanisms to direct greater private capital funding into biodiversity conservation. Additional funding derived through credit or bond-based products can offer hope to improve local cost:benefit ratios of wildlife presence and incentivize coexistence. However, conservation is complex, and we fear these mechanisms carry risks of unintended consequences, particularly where conservation metrics are insufficiently thought through, and locally affected communities are not equitably engaged. Here, we outline our perspective of these hopes and fears, with a particular focus on big cat conservation, conflict and coexistence. We encourage conservation scientists, practitioners, and community members not to cede the development of these mechanisms completely to financial experts or standard setters, but to take a more active role in learning, offering critique, and supporting the engagement of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities. This engagement is vital to managing risk head on and maximizing the potential benefit of these mechanisms for human-big cat coexistence.