Digital representations of human–jaguar conflict and cattle ranching in the region of São Félix do Xingu (PA), Brazil: territoriality, risk, and socioenvironmental narratives

Abstract

This article analyzes territorialized digital representations of the conflict between cattle ranchers and jaguars (Panthera onca) in the region of São Félix do Xingu, southeastern Pará, through a netnographic approach combined with qualitative auditing of audiovisual records associated with alleged cattle predation by large felines. The research focused on YouTube, the only digital platform in which systematic and auditable records related to the investigated phenomenon were identified. Initially, 2,613 videos were identified, of which 1,069 were selected through searches using the keywords “onça” and “onca”. After individual auditing of the contents, exclusion of videos unrelated to alleged cattle predation and removal of two occurrences located outside the defined geographical area, the final corpus consisted of 47 audited audiovisual records. The study does not seek definitive biological confirmation of predatory events, but rather analyzes the territorialized construction of digital narratives associated with human-wildlife conflict in the studied region. The results revealed predominance of audiovisual records involving juvenile cattle, spatial recurrence in specific rural properties and frequent association between audiovisual reports of attacks and highly connected Amazonian forest landscapes. Simultaneously, the analyzed contents revealed recurrent narratives related to rural insecurity, economic vulnerability, fear and perceptions of institutional abandonment. The study demonstrates that digital platforms may simultaneously operate as spaces of empirical documentation, emotional circulation of risk and symbolic amplification of socioenvironmental conflicts. It is concluded that contemporary conflicts between large predators and Amazonian cattle ranching require interdisciplinary approaches integrating ecology, territoriality, digital communication, risk perception and socioenvironmental conflicts.