The illegal trade in jaguars is growing, and it’s likely linked to increased Chinese investment in Central and South America, a new study finds. Jaguars are already classified as near threatened, in part as a result of ranchers shooting them in retaliation for attacking cattle and in larger part from deforestation—they’ve lost 50 percent of their historic habitat. Now the illegal international trade in jaguar parts is putting increasing pressure on their declining populations, which are roughly estimated to total 173,000.

A new paper published June 2 in the journal Conservation Biology finds that from 2012 to early 2018 in Central and South America, more than 800 jaguars were killed for their teeth, skins, and skulls to be