Sponsor
This work was supported by Secretaría de Ciencia, Humanidades, Tecnología e Innovación (SECIHTI-México), fellowship 5943610 (E.J.T.-R.); Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency, grants J1-50013 and P4-0059 (M.K.); I + D + i Project PID2020-114181GB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033; and the European Union (V.P. and A.O).
Published In
Science Advances
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-16-2025
Subjects
Threatened species -- mass extinction
Abstract
Human impacts on carnivores are a persistent conservation challenge worldwide. We present a global analysis showing the overlap of conservation lands and the cumulative impact of humans on the distribution ranges of 257 terrestrial carnivore species. Our findings reveal that 64% of carnivore ranges overlap with areas characterized by high human pressures. We found that Indigenous peoples' lands emerge as crucial for carnivore population viability, potentially safeguarding 26% of carnivore ranges globally, while protected and wilderness areas cover roughly 10 and 16% of carnivore ranges, respectively. These three areas combined cover 35% of the global range of carnivores. Reducing human pressure on conservation lands and managing them to protect carnivores are therefore critical, yet challenging. The extent of carnivore ranges outside these areas underscores the necessity to expand the network of conservation lands, which are a pivotal component of global conservation planning, alongside broader proactive species-specific conservation measures.
Rights
Copyright (c) 2025 The Authors Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Locate the Document
DOI
10.1126/sciadv.adq2853
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/43965
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Citation Details
Torres-Romero, E. J., Eppley, T. M., Ripple, W. J., Newsome, T. M., Krofel, M., Carter, N. H., Ordiz, A., de Oliveira, T. G., Selva, N., & Penteriani, V. (2025). Global scale assessment of the human-induced extinction crisis of terrestrial carnivores. Science Advances, 11(29).