The Insolent Fox: Human–Animal Relations with Protected Predators in Central-Southern Chile

Abstract

This paper analyzes human–animal relations with protected predators in central-southern Chile, focusing mainly on the case of foxes. It is based on 12 months of anthropological research undertaken in the Araucanía Region, using an ethnographic approach that combined participant observation with in-depth, semi-structured interviews. It covers field material relating to cases where protected predators and small-scale farmers were caught up in conflictive situations over livestock. These situations, commonly framed as “theft” by the people affected, were central to the negative image of protected predators and, particularly, foxes. The latter were also affected by popular cultural representations of them as prototypical thieves. Nevertheless, a number of nuances in these relations suggested a particular form of “distanced sociality” with these animals, with more ambiguous characteristics than clear-cut opposition and rivalry. Aspects of coexistence and continuity between humans and these animals, together with recognition of them as creatures with both general intentionality and particular interests, are explored throughout the paper, highlighting entanglements and complex relations in a shared environment.

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