Introduction
The jaguar Panthera onca is a keystone species of profound ecological and cultural importance in Mesoamerica. Once ranging from the southern USA to northern Argentina, the species now occupies < 40% of its historical range (Rodríguez-Soto et al., Reference Rodríguez-Soto, Monroy-Vilchis, Maiorano, Boitani, Faller and Briones2011). Jaguar populations are increasingly threatened by habitat loss, prey depletion and conflict with people, particularly in areas where human livelihoods and jaguar habitats intersect (Chávez et al., Reference Chávez, Zarza, de la Torre, Medellín and Ceballos2016; Marchini & Macdonald, Reference Marchini and Macdonald2020). In the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve in south-east Mexico, one of Mesoamerica’s largest areas of tropical forest, preventing the extinction of jaguars requires long-term coexistence strategies developed in close collaboration with local communities (Carter & Linnell, Reference Carter and Linnell2016). Understanding how jaguars are perceived by different members of these communities is crucial to designing effective conservation and education programmes.
Studies often focus on the perceptions and attitudes of adults toward jaguars (Zimmermann et al., Reference Zimmermann, Walpole and Leader-Williams2005; Marchini & Macdonald, Reference Marchini and Macdonald2020; Lecuyer et al., Reference Lecuyer, Börger, Calmé, Schmook and White2023), and less research has examined how children perceive this species (Dinis et al., Reference Dinis, Rainho, de Campos and Martins2024). This is important to address, as (1) childhood experiences shape adult beliefs about animals and the world (Chawla, Reference Chawla1999; Raja & Carrico, Reference Raja and Carrico2022), (2) children aged 7–14 begin forming long-lasting beliefs and values (Kellert, Reference Kellert1984; Otto et al., Reference Otto, Evans, Moon and Kaiser2019), and (3) children can influence adult attitudes and behavior towards wildlife through intergenerational learning (Damerell et al., Reference Damerell, Howe and Milner-Gulland2013; Marchini & Macdonald, Reference Marchini and Macdonald2020). Children may even serve as powerful messengers of conservation values within their communities (Orlove & Brush, Reference Orlove and Brush1996; Pidgeon, Reference Pidgeon1998).
Children’s perceptions are shaped by a wide range of contextual and individual factors, including age, gender, education, cultural background and personal experience (Schwartz, Reference Schwartz2006; Manfredo et al., Reference Manfredo, Berl, Teel and Bruskotter2021). These perceptions are not fixed; they evolve with time and exposure (Clayton & Myers, Reference Clayton and Myers2015). For researchers and practitioners working on coexistence with large carnivores such as jaguars, it is therefore essential to understand how children perceive this species: whether it is seen as dangerous, valued, mythical or irrelevant.
Although surveys and interviews are common tools in environmental perception research (Kuhar et al., Reference Kuhar, Bettinger, Lehnhardt, Tracy and Cox2010; Rakotomamonjy et al., Reference Rakotomamonjy, Jones, Razafimanahaka, Ramamonjisoa and Williams2015), they often present challenges when working with children, particularly in rural or culturally diverse settings. Drawing-based methods offer a more inclusive and expressive alternative, allowing children to communicate their environmental knowledge and emotions without linguistic or literacy barriers (Barraza, Reference Barraza1999; Smith et al., Reference Smith, Meehan, Enfield and Castori2005; Baptista et al., Reference Baptista, Neto, Valverde and González2015; Franquesa-Soler & Serio-Silva, Reference Franquesa-Soler and Serio-Silva2017). These visual tools have proven valuable in assessing environmental literacy and species recognition across diverse groups (Mascote et al., Reference Mascote, Castillo and Peña-Mondragón2016; Aguilar-Cucurachi et al., Reference Aguilar-Cucurachi, Merçon and Silva-Rivera2017).
In this study, we distinguish between knowledge, understood as factual information children hold about animal traits, behaviors or diets, and perception, which encompasses the emotional, symbolic and evaluative associations children make with animals, such as fear, danger or empathy (Clayton & Myers, Reference Clayton and Myers2015; Manfredo et al., Reference Manfredo, Berl, Teel and Bruskotter2021). We also refer to local ecological knowledge as the experiential and place-based understanding that communities, including children, develop through interactions with wildlife and their environment (Newing et al., Reference Newing, Eagle, Puri and Watson2011; Joa et al., Reference Joa, Winkel and Primmer2018).
In addition, to move beyond assessment and towards more meaningful engagement, we advocate the use of context-based and arts-based educational approaches, and culturally relevant and developmentally suitable ways to engage children, including narrative-based strategies such as storytelling. Although our study does not constitute participatory action research in a strict sense, it is informed by participatory and arts-based traditions that value children’s perspectives and creative expression, and it seeks to translate qualitative insights into applied, collaborative conservation-oriented outcomes. Such approaches, particularly those that integrate arts and science, have been shown to support evidence-based conservation education and foster emotional and cognitive connections with biodiversity (Ardoin et al., Reference Ardoin, Bowers and Gaillard2020; Franquesa-Soler et al., Reference Franquesa-Soler, Jorge-Sales, Aristizabal, Moreno-Casasola and Serio-Silva2020). These frameworks not only centre children’s voices but also value their ways of knowing, feeling and representing the world, enabling more equitable and meaningful participation in conservation processes (Rousell & Cutter-Mackenzie-Knowles, Reference Rousell and Cutter-Mackenzie-Knowles2020). By recognizing children as active social agents rather than passive recipients of knowledge, conservation initiatives can foster deeper and more lasting connections between local youth and the non-human species that share their territories (Percy-Smith & Burns, Reference Percy-Smith and Burns2013; Aguilar-Cucurachi et al., Reference Aguilar-Cucurachi, Merçon and Silva-Rivera2017).
Based on the premise that children’s representations of wildlife are shaped by their social, cultural and ecological surroundings, we explored how schoolchildren in human–wildlife conflict zones conceptualize the jaguar within the broader context of local wildlife. We addressed two main research questions: (1) What knowledge, perceptions and potential misconceptions do children living in conflict-prone areas hold about jaguars and the local fauna that shares habitat with the jaguar? (2) How do sociodemographic factors, such as age, gender and parental occupation, influence these representations? To investigate these questions, we employed a drawing-based methodology with 89 schoolchildren in two rural communities bordering the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve. The drawing activity was guided by four prompts designed to explore children’s representations of local biodiversity, fear-related animals and jaguar-specific attributes (appearance and diet), reflecting the study’s dual focus on broader wildlife perceptions and a focal species of conservation concern.
As a secondary, applied objective, we translated the findings from the drawing analysis into a conservation education resource. We co-created Kaab, an illustrated storybook that integrates children’s perceptions, local ecological knowledge and cultural context. This process demonstrates how research involving children can inform the development of culturally relevant and locally grounded outreach materials. Although we do not assess the storybook’s impact in this paper, we explore its co-creation and discuss its potential as a tool for promoting human–wildlife coexistence.
Study area
Of the c. 14,000 km2 municipality of Calakmul, in the state of Campeche, Mexico, 7,238 km2 comprises the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve. This Reserve, a biodiversity-rich protected area, includes numerous human communities within its buffer zone, making it a complex social-ecological system where people and nature are closely interwoven. The Reserve is surrounded by 158 localities with a population of 31,714 inhabitants (INEGI, 2020). This study focuses on two localities, Nueva Vida and Centauros del Norte, which are located within the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve core area (Fig 1). Half of Calakmul’s population is of mestizo and Indigenous heritage, and the other half originated from 23 Mexican states. Indigenous groups primarily include the Chol and Maya, with some Tzeltal, Peninsular Maya, Tzotzil and Totonaca. However, neither Nueva Vida nor Centauros del Norte have Indigenous populations. The ejido system, based on communal land use, predominates, with subsistence agriculture the main economic activity. Key crops are corn, beans, chili and citrus; additional activities include beekeeping, forestry, handicrafts and livestock farming (Santos-Fita et al., Reference Santos-Fita, Naranjo Pinera, Bello Baltazar, Estrada Lugo, Mariaca Méndez and Macario Mendoza2013). Sheep farming is increasing as a result of state programmes (Schmook & Radel, Reference Schmook and Radel2008). The landscape of Calakmul includes semi-evergreen flooded lowland forest, lowland deciduous forest and secondary vegetation (Pennington & Sarukhan, Reference Pennington and Sarukhán1998), with > 1,500 plant species (Martínez et al., Reference Martínez, Sousa and Ramos-Álvarez2001). It hosts a diverse fauna with 94 mammal species, including the Central American tapir Tapirus bairdii, white-lipped peccary Tayassu pecari and jaguar, and the area is designated as a priority for jaguar conservation (Ceballos et al., Reference Ceballos, Zarza, Chávez and González-Maya2016).
The study localities of Centauro del Norte and Nueva Vida in Calakmul Biosphere Reserve in the municipality of Calakmul, in the state of Campeche, Mexico.
Methods
This study was conducted in two main phases: (1) qualitative data collection using drawing-based methods with participatory elements to explore children’s knowledge and perceptions of jaguars and local wildlife; and (2) an applied, participatory outreach phase in which findings were translated into a co-developed educational tool. Although children actively engaged in the drawing activities and group discussions, the primary purpose of this phase was data elicitation rather than collective decision-making or action.
Data collection through children’s drawings
In October 2019, we worked with two rural multigrade primary schools near the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve: School 1 (Manuel Acuña) in Nueva Vida and School 2 (Francisco I. Madero) in Centauros del Norte (Fig. 1). These communities were selected based on their proximity to jaguar habitat, documented history of jaguar–livestock conflict, and established collaboration with the research team. The study was also conducted in response to an explicit request from community members seeking support to address ongoing jaguar-related challenges.
A total of 89 children participated (45 girls, 44 boys), grouped into two mixed-grade sessions per school. A team of seven facilitators (including two co-authors and five collaborators) implemented a full-day workshop at each school. Following introductory team-building games to establish rapport, children took part in a drawing activity designed to explore their knowledge and perceptions of jaguars and local wildlife. Working in small subgroups (5–6 per facilitator), participants responded through drawings to four sequential prompts: (1) Which animals live in the forest or mountains near your home? (2) Which of these animals are you scared of? (3) What does the jaguar look like? (4) What does the jaguar eat? Two of the four drawing prompts explicitly focused on jaguars, as this species was the focal conservation concern identified by local communities and the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve. The design intentionally combined jaguar-specific prompts with broader wildlife questions to contextualize children’s perceptions of jaguars within their wider understanding of local fauna and perceived risk.
Each drawing was allotted 15 minutes, resulting in four drawings per child and a total of 356 drawings. Teachers provided anonymized contextual information for each child (e.g. parental occupation, such as farmer, rancher or beekeeper), which was used to assess the sociodemographic influences on wildlife representations.
We digitized and assigned anonymized codes linking the four images per participant. Using ATLAS.ti 8 (ATLAS.ti Scientific Software Development GmbH, 2018), we performed a qualitative thematic analysis based on iconographic elements (Hernández-Cortés et al., Reference Hernández-Cortés, Silva-Rivera, Rangel-Negrín and Franquesa-Soler2024; Supplementary Table 1). When children labelled drawings with written words (e.g. venado (deer), carne (meat)), those labels were included in the analysis to prevent misclassification. Prompts 1, 2 and 4 were coded for recurring environmental and faunal elements (e.g. rivers, snakes, deer), with each element recorded once per drawing to avoid overrepresentation. Drawings for prompt 3 were analysed in terms of how children represented the jaguar’s physical features (e.g. expression, claws, colour), allowing us to assess visual perceptions and emotional framing.
To explore associations between children’s sociodemographic variables and their representations of jaguars, we conducted χ 2 tests of independence using the chisquare package (Alberti, Reference Alberti2022) in R 4.5.2 (R Core Team, 2025). We tested whether gender, age group (younger: grades 1–3; older: grades 4–6; grades 1–3 typically comprise children aged 6–9 years and grades 4–6 children aged 9–12 years, although these age ranges may overlap depending on the child’s date of birth and school entry), and parental occupation (e.g. farming, ranching, other) were associated with three key response categories: (1) perceiving jaguars as dangerous (binary variable coded from drawings and group discussion notes), (2) drawing jaguars with angry or aggressive features (e.g. bared teeth, claws, angry eyebrows), and (3) including livestock or humans in the jaguar’s diet, as a proxy for perception of conflict-related feeding behavior. These analyses allowed us to identify whether social or demographic factors influenced children’s knowledge and perceptions, thereby addressing our second research question.
Applied conservation outreach: storybook development
Based on the analysis of children’s drawings, we identified recurrent factual inaccuracies (e.g. tusks, horns) and emotionally charged representations (e.g. exaggerated claws, aggressive expressions; Plate 1). To address these matters, we co-developed a storybook titled Kaab, which means ‘universe’ in Maya, featuring a jaguar protagonist who narrates its own story.
Examples of children’s drawings in response to the following questions: (a) Which animals live in the forest near where you live? (b) Which animals living in the forest near where you live are you afraid of? (c) What does the jaguar look like and what does it eat?
The storybook was co-authored by Mexican writers and illustrators, with input from local educators and conservation practitioners (Plate 2). It includes accurate ecological information about jaguars and visual contrasts between children’s drawings and realistic depictions, fostering reflection and learning through visual comparison. To support local environmental education, 1,000 copies of Kaab were distributed to 12 primary schools in the Calakmul region. In each school, we conducted short participatory sessions prior to distribution, in which students engaged in brainstorming activities and shared their knowledge about jaguars. Teachers expressed intentions to integrate the story into Spanish and reading curricula, using it to reinforce regional biodiversity knowledge and promote coexistence. Additionally, 20 copies were provided to a mothers’ reading group in Zoh Laguna, where it was incorporated into storytelling sessions for younger children.
Cover of the storybook Kaab alongside selected internal illustrations. The artwork depicts the jaguar and other species that share its habitat, highlighting the importance of biodiversity and interspecific relationships.
Fig. 1 Long description
Panel A: A yellow background with illustrations of various animals, including jaguars, monkeys, and birds. The text ‘KAAB EL JAGUAR’ is prominently displayed at the top. Panel B: A scene with a jaguar, a monkey, a bird, and other animals in a jungle environment. The text includes a story in Spanish about the jaguar and other animals.
The storybook is freely available online via ResearchGate (Zohé et al., Reference Zohé, Serrano Mac-Gregor and Weston-Flores2023), and preliminary analytics (210 reads, Research Interest Score 3.9, as of 26 June 2026) indicate interest and outreach potential. We aim to expand the reach of this educational tool through further school distribution, partnerships with local NGOs and educators, and digital promotion. Kaab was intentionally developed as an applied educational product informed by qualitative research with participatory elements, translating locally identified perceptions and knowledge gaps into a place-based environmental education tool that supports conservation efforts and coexistence education rooted in children’s own perspectives.
Ethics
This study was conducted in response to concerns raised by local communities, who reported jaguar depredation on livestock to the authorities of Calakmul Biosphere Reserve. These reports constituted the initial point of contact and framed the study as a response to locally identified needs related to human–jaguar coexistence.
The research involved non-invasive, educational activities conducted in primary schools. Prior to data collection, permission to carry out the activities was formally requested and granted by school principals and teaching staff at each participating school. School authorities coordinated the scheduling of activities and informed teachers and parents about the purpose and nature of the project. All activities were conducted in group settings as part of regular educational sessions. Children were invited to participate voluntarily in drawing and discussion activities, and verbal assent was obtained at the beginning of each session in age-appropriate language. No personal identifiers were collected, and children’s identities were protected.
Parents or legal guardians were informed of the activities through school communication channels managed by principals and teachers. Given the low-risk, educational nature of the activities and their integration into school programming, written parental consent was not required by participating schools. Permission to use children’s drawings for research, educational and dissemination purposes was granted by the school authorities. Where artwork is reproduced in publications or outreach materials, it is presented anonymously, without names, personal data or identifying information. Children were also informed, in age-appropriate language, that their drawings could be used in educational materials such as books or publications and were given the opportunity to decline inclusion without consequences.
Results
Children’s knowledge of local wildlife
Children identified a total of 59 animal species as inhabitants of nearby forests or mountains. Despite living in a high-density jaguar area, only 13% of children spontaneously identified the jaguar as part of the local fauna. The most frequently depicted animals were snakes (51%), butterflies (47%), toucans (25%), bees (24%) and birds (22%) (Fig. 2, Plate 1). Vertebrate wildlife (22 species) dominated the fauna representations.
Per cent of children’s drawings in response to the question ‘Which animals live in the forest near where you live?’
Fig. 2 Long description
A bar graph compares the percentage of children’s drawings of different animals in response to the question Which animals live in the forest near where you live. The horizontal axis lists various animals, including snake, turtle, frog, crocodile, butterfly, bee, worm, earthworm, ant, snail, caterpillar, slug, toucan, deer, chameleon, parrot, squirrel, monkey, deer, bat, wild pig, peacock, eagle, cow, horse, chicken, duck, pig, cow, sheep, goat, cat, mouse, chicken, bear, lion, elephant, flamingo, giraffe, wolf, shark, fish, fish, and dove. The vertical axis represents the percentage of children, ranging from 0 to 70 percent. The graph is divided into six categories: Amphibians and reptiles, Invertebrates, Wild vertebrates, Domestic vertebrates, Non-native fauna, and Others. Each category contains multiple bars representing different animals. Notable trends include a high percentage of drawings for snakes and frogs in the Amphibians and reptiles category, worms and bees in the Invertebrates category, and toucans and monkeys in the Wild vertebrates category. The Domestic vertebrates category shows lower percentages overall, with chickens and cows being more frequently drawn. The Non-native fauna category has a significant percentage for elephants and lions. The Others category includes a variety of animals with varying percentages.
Animals perceived with fear
Children considered 41 different animals as dangerous. Snakes were the most feared species (70%), followed by jaguars (31%), worms (20%) and spiders (16%; Fig. 3, Plate 1). Among wild animals, jaguars were the most frequently depicted as threatening, both in frequency and visual emphasis. This distinction between known fauna and feared fauna indicates that perceptions of risk are not necessarily aligned with everyday familiarity, and that the jaguar’s symbolic role as a threat may persist even when it is not salient in children’s representations of local fauna. Although children represented a wide range of fauna, subsequent analyses focused on jaguars as the focal species of conservation concern identified by local communities.
Per cent of children’s drawings in response to the question ‘Which animals living in the forest near where you live are you afraid of?’
Representations of the jaguar’s physical traits and emotional expression
Drawings of the jaguar showed varied understandings of its appearance. The most consistently drawn feature was circular spots (53%), followed by spotless bodies (31%) and missing ears (26%). Regarding facial expression, 35% of the jaguars were smiling, 29% showed no emotion, 9% were drawn as aggressive, and a smaller number were depicted as sad (2%; Fig. 4, Plate 1). The prevalence of neutral or smiling jaguars suggests that not all representations are driven by fear, and that children may hold more complex, ambivalent emotional associations with the species.
Per cent of children’s drawings in response to the question ‘What does the jaguar look like?’
Children’s representations of the jaguar’s diet
Children attributed 32 types of prey to the jaguar: wild, domesticated, non-native and other types. All 89 children drew the jaguar’s diet. The most frequently represented prey included wild deer (28%), sheep (17%), cows (10%), meat (9%), people (7%) and blood (< 5%; Fig. 5, Plate 1). Although some prey items (e.g. deer) reflect accurate ecological knowledge, others, such as people and blood, appear to reflect affective associations rooted in fear or cultural narratives.
Per cent of children’s drawings in response to the question hat does the jaguar eat?’
Influence of gender, age and parental occupation on jaguar perceptions
To explore whether children’s sociodemographic background influenced their perceptions, we conducted χ 2 tests. A significant association was found between gender and the portrayal of the jaguar with angry features (χ 2 = 8.7, P < 0.01). Girls were less likely than boys to draw jaguars with aggressive expressions. Older children (grades 4–6) were more likely to portray the jaguar with aggressive traits (χ 2 = 5.6, P < 0.01), suggesting that age may correlate with exposure to narratives that reinforce fear-based imagery.
Although not statistically significant, there was a marginal relationship between children whose parents were farmers or cattle ranchers and depictions of the jaguar’s diet including cattle, poultry or people (χ 2 = 5.8, P = 0.05). This suggests that household economic activities may shape children’s views of jaguars as threats. There were no other significant associations.
Application of findings: from drawings to storybook co-creation
Insights from the drawing analysis directly informed the development of Kaab, the educational storybook. Recurring misconceptions, such as jaguars depicted with exaggerated aggression, incorrect diets or mythic associations, were translated into narrative contrasts within the story. The protagonist jaguar, although visually realistic, addresses these misunderstandings through dialogue and action, helping to reframe its ecological role.
To ensure cultural and contextual relevance, the story was co-created with input from local educators, writers and illustrators familiar with Calakmul. The storyline and visuals were iteratively reviewed to include regional fauna, emblematic species, familiar landscapes and Mayan words. By situating the narrative in their immediate environment, the story fosters a sense of belonging and pride, helping children identify with the characters and places depicted. Selected drawings from the workshops were included (with permission) in prefaces and activities accompanying the storybook, reinforcing a sense of inclusion and ownership. These steps aimed to ground the educational content in the lived experiences and perceptions of the children themselves.
To our knowledge, Kaab is the first educational storybook in the region co-designed with children based on their own representations and understandings of local fauna. Our review of official educational materials found no content addressing wildlife coexistence or the direct benefits of native species. This highlights a significant gap in current curricula, especially in regions where communities live alongside diverse wildlife. Kaab is an important first step towards making these themes more accessible in schools, particularly those located in or near conservation areas, by offering context-appropriate, culturally resonant content that reflects children’s lived realities and fosters a sense of pride and connection to their environment.
Discussion
Children’s perceptions of wildlife in a jaguar territory: a biocultural lens
This study aimed to examine how children in two communities adjacent to the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve perceive jaguars and other local wildlife, through a drawing-based qualitative exercise with participatory elements. Because the study was intentionally designed to explore perceptions of jaguars, the findings should be interpreted as species-focused rather than as a neutral assessment of wildlife salience across all taxa. Our findings show that children’s representations are shaped by a combination of ecological experience, cultural narratives, family livelihood and demographic factors such as gender and age. These results align with calls for more inclusive conservation research that recognizes children as active participants and interpreters of human–wildlife relations (Marchini & Macdonald, Reference Marchini and Macdonald2020; Manfredo et al., Reference Manfredo, Berl, Teel and Bruskotter2021).
Despite living near one of the most important jaguar strongholds in Mesoamerica, children rarely represented the jaguar as part of local fauna in spontaneous drawing tasks. Rather than indicating a lack of knowledge, this pattern suggests that even within a priority conservation region, large carnivores such as the jaguar may have low everyday salience in children’s mental representations of local biodiversity. Drawing-based elicitation reflects cognitive accessibility and salience, comparable to free-listing approaches in local ecological knowledge research, where recall is shaped by visibility, frequency of discussion, and emotional relevance rather than exhaustive knowledge (Sousa et al., Reference Sousa, Soldati, Monteiro, Araújo and Albuquerque2016; Meireles et al., Reference Meireles, De Albuquerque and De Medeiros2021). Although jaguars are symbolically prominent in the region, appearing in conservation discourse, murals and regional identity, they may be less embedded in children’s daily experiences and mental maps of local biodiversity.
Instead, children more frequently depicted non-threatening or commonly encountered species such as snakes, butterflies and birds. Again, this contrast does not imply a lack of knowledge about jaguars, but rather highlights a gap between ecological importance and everyday cognitive prominence, pointing to potential erosion of biocultural knowledge, defined as the interdependence between biodiversity and cultural identity (Rozzi et al., Reference Rozzi, May, Chapin, Massardo, Gavin and Klaver2018). As previous research suggests, childhood wildlife knowledge is increasingly mediated by globalized media rather than local ecological encounters (Genovart et al., Reference Genovart, Tavecchia, Enseñat and Laiolo2013; Hooykaas et al., Reference Hooykaas, Holierhoek, Westerveld, Schilthuizen and Smeets2022).
Fear and familiarity: jaguars and snakes in children’s drawings
Although the jaguar was underrepresented as local fauna, it was highly salient in children’s fear-based representations, second only to snakes, highlighting that emotional salience may operate independently from everyday familiarity or ecological knowledge. This duality reinforces the notion that wildlife perceptions are not simply based on proximity or frequency of encounter, but are filtered through emotional, social and cultural frames (Souchet & Aubret, Reference Souchet and Aubret2016). In Calakmul, this fear is likely linked to community narratives around livestock loss and risk to human safety, even though verified attacks are extremely rare (Hoogesteijn et al., Reference Hoogesteijn, Hoogesteijn, Tortato, Garrido, Jedrzejewski, Marchini, Castaño-Uribe, Lasso, Hoogesteijn and Garrido2016).
Our findings also align with those of Mascote et al. (Reference Mascote, Castillo and Peña-Mondragón2016) in Chiapas and Esparza et al. (Reference Esparza, Wilhelmus Gerritsen, López-Parraguirre, García-Rojas and Peña-Mondragón2019) in Jalisco, where children frequently associated snakes and large carnivores with danger, despite their ecological importance. These findings support the argument that educational interventions must go beyond species recognition to challenge ingrained narratives of fear.
The emotional life of the jaguar: symbols, traits and social learning
The way children portray jaguars visually reflects their emotional associations. Smiling jaguars were more common than aggressive ones, particularly among younger students and girls. This suggests that despite narratives of danger, jaguars still hold symbolic or even charismatic potential in children’s imaginations. However, older children and boys tended to depict more aggressive traits, possibly reflecting increased exposure to community conflict discourse or early gendered socialization around wildlife. These findings underscore the importance of understanding how age and gender influence conservation attitudes and suggest that one-size-fits-all educational approaches may miss key opportunities for engagement (Zinn & Pierce, Reference Zinn and Pierce2002; Campbell & Alvarado, Reference Campbell and Alvarado2011).
Constructing the jaguar’s diet: between ecological knowledge and symbolic fear
Children’s representations of jaguar diets included the correct prey (e.g. deer) but also included symbolic or fear-driven elements such as meat, people and blood. The inclusion of domestic animals and people was especially common among children whose parents were farmers or ranchers, although this trend was not statistically significant. These findings reinforce the influence of household economic activities and community discourse on children’s mental models of wildlife (Marchini & Macdonald, Reference Marchini and Macdonald2020).
The depiction of meat and people may reflect media influence or local anecdotes rather than direct ecological knowledge. These misconceptions suggest the need for locally grounded education strategies that clarify trophic roles while respecting cultural narratives (Franquesa-Soler & Serio-Silva, Reference Franquesa-Soler and Serio-Silva2017).
Limitations and future research directions
This study relied primarily on drawing-based elicitation to explore children’s perceptions of jaguars and local wildlife. Although drawings are a well-established method for accessing children’s environmental knowledge and emotional associations (Barraza, Reference Barraza1999; Bowker, Reference Bowker2006), particularly in contexts where verbal expression may be limited (Duncan, Reference Duncan2013), they capture representations of cognitive and affective salience rather than direct measures of knowledge, experience or behavior. Consequently, the absence or presence of a species in drawings should not be interpreted as a lack of awareness or ecological understanding, but as reflecting what is most cognitively accessible, emotionally salient or contextually meaningful at the time of recall.
Although our study did not include formal triangulation through interviews or surveys, interpretive robustness was strengthened through direct observation, the use of multiple prompts, contextual information provided by teachers, and systematic coding across 356 drawings. Sociodemographic information was provided by teachers rather than collected through standardized instruments, which may introduce some degree of inaccuracy in variables such as parental occupation. In addition, the study did not include formal community validation of interpretations, which could be addressed in future work through feedback sessions with families and educators.
Fieldwork for the drawing-based data collection phase was conducted in late 2019, shortly before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Subsequent school closures, community access restrictions and interruptions to in-person activities in the Calakmul region substantially limited opportunities for follow-up data collection, triangulation and longitudinal engagement with participating schools. In addition, the project did not have dedicated funding to support extended post-intervention evaluation during this period. These constraints prevented the implementation of interviews, classroom observations or a formal assessment of the storybook’s educational impact, which is planned as a separate phase of the project and will be reported elsewhere.
Finally, because the study was intentionally designed to explore perceptions of jaguars, the findings should be interpreted as species-focused rather than as a neutral assessment of wildlife salience across all taxa. Future research could strengthen triangulation by combining drawing-based methods with interviews, participatory mapping, storytelling or longitudinal engagement to assess how children’s perceptions evolve over time and in response to educational interventions.
Conservation implications and the role of educational tools
Our findings reinforce the growing understanding that children are not passive recipients of conservation messages, but active interpreters and transmitters of cultural values (Chawla, Reference Chawla1999; Manfredo et al., Reference Manfredo, Berl, Teel and Bruskotter2021). Their mental models are shaped by emotional associations, family livelihoods and community narratives, underscoring the importance of contextually grounded, age- and gender-sensitive conservation strategies (Zinn & Pierce, Reference Zinn and Pierce2002; Campbell & Alvarado, Reference Campbell and Alvarado2011).
In response to the misconceptions identified in this study, we co-created the illustrated storybook Kaab, in collaboration with local educators and artists. The story was specifically designed to address children’s misunderstandings about jaguars, particularly their diet and physical traits. By situating the narrative in the Calakmul region, the story aimed to increase content relevance and foster a sense of place-based identity and pride. Although we do not formally evaluate the storybook’s impact here, its positive reception among teachers and children suggests that creative, participatory tools can meaningfully contribute to biocultural conservation.
However, as others have noted (Ritchie et al., Reference Ritchie, Elmhagen, Glen, Letnic, Ludwig and McDonald2012; Bezanson et al., Reference Bezanson, Franquesa-Soler, Kowalewski, McNamara, Oktaviani and Rodrigues2023), isolated tools are rarely sufficient. Effective conservation education requires sustained engagement, ongoing educator support and long-term relationships with communities. These in turn demand institutional commitment and dedicated funding streams, conditions that are often lacking in Latin American contexts. Many educators, researchers and practitioners operate with limited resources and face systemic barriers that prevent consistent follow-up, even when such efforts are envisioned from the outset.
Our work highlights both the promise and the precarity of integrating biocultural approaches into conservation education. For initiatives like Kaab to move beyond one-off interventions, we need structural support that recognizes the value of long-term, community-based processes. In contexts of rapid socioecological change, investing in children’s environmental learning is not a peripheral activity, it is foundational for cultivating future stewards and fostering meaningful human–wildlife coexistence.
Author contributions
Project conceptualization: IS-M-G, MW-F; study design: IS-M-G, MW-F; data collection, fieldwork: IS-M-G, MW-F, FMC-M; data analysis: IS-M-G, MF-S writing: MF-S, IS-M-G, MW-F, with contributions from all authors.
Acknowledgements
We thank the children of the communities of Nueva Vida and Centauros del Norte, and the respective authorities of their elementary schools; the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve and the project 00092169 ‘Fortalecimiento del manejo del Sistema de Áreas Protegidas para mejorar la conservación de especies en riesgo y sus hábitats’, implemented by the United Nations Development Program, executed by the National Commission of Protected Natural Areas, and financed by the Global Environment Facility, for contributing data collected from the study area; Celeste Velazco, Ingrid Dominguez, Diana Aranda, Valeria Boron, Zazilha Lotz and Francisco Abarca for their invaluable support; and two anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful feedback and helpful suggestions. We acknowledge the financial support of Animal Karma Foundation, WWF Mexico and the International Wildlife Coexistence Network for producing the storybooks. The authors used the generative artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT to assist with language editing and improving clarity in parts of the manuscript. All content was reviewed and verified by the authors, who take full responsibility for the final text.
Supplementary material
The supplementary material for this article is available at doi.org/10.1017/S0030605326103251
Conflicts of interest
None.
Ethical standards
This research abided by the Oryx guidelines on ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained through a blanket consent process, with participants receiving detailed information about the study’s aims, methods and potential risks (see also Ethics section). The educational intervention was conducted with official permission from the Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas, the School Council (the school’s principal and teachers), and the Municipal Commissioner of the Nueva Vida and Centauros del Norte communities.
Data availability
The data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article and its supplementary materials.
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