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Pigs, Peccaries and
Hippos Status Survey and Action Plan (1993) Chapter
2.6 Review of priorities for Conservation Action and Future Research on
Neotropical peccaries. Andrew B. Taber and William L. R. Oliver Introduction The research and conservation action priorities for
peccaries in Mexico, Central and South America, based on the preceding
chapters 2.1 to 2.5 are reviewed and summarized below. This review does not
include the collared peccary in the United States of America since management
and conservation programmes have already been established for populations
there. In many respects, the most pressing problem
confronting peccary conservation is the lack of information. Few field
studies have been made on any of the peccaries outside the United States,
where a substantial body of information already exists. As it is, very little
information is available about the distribution, status and ecology of
peccary populations in most of the habitats and countries in which they
occur. Clearly, research on peccaries outside the United States is an
overriding priority. In addition to these problems, there is also a need
to confront a range of related issues appertaining to wildlife in the
neotropics. Efforts to conserve threatened peccary taxa will inevitably fail
in the long run, and now stable populations may become seriously threatened,
if the larger problems are not confronted. These issues include lack of
reserves, lack of trained wildlife personnel, lack of awareness or interest
in wildlife by the public at large, over-hunting, and habitat destruction on
a colossal scale. These problems and issues, whether specific to the
peccaries or of much wider import and significance, underlie the objectives
and priority recommendations for conservation action and future research,
which may be summarized as follows: Objectives 1. Maintain
core wild populations of not less than 2,000 animals of each taxon in
individual reserves with at least two reserves per species or subspecies. 2. Promote
actions intended to increase the size of peccary populations in key areas and
the number and size of protected areas in which they occur. 3. Respond to
specific threats to viable populations of taxa at risk. 4. Permit a
managed harvest of healthy peccary populations on a sustained yield basis by
subsistence hunters outside reserves as a means of encouraging rational use
of wildlife and to provide local people with an incentive to preserve
habitat. 5. Encourage
the implementation of sustainable development programmes, which maintain
peccary habitat. 6. Promote the
enhanced future monitoring and regulation of the peccary hide and meat
markets and international trade in peccary hides. 7. Increase and
promote public awareness of the need for peccary conservation in particular
and nature conservation in general. Conservation Action Priorities A. Conserve Taxa at Risk Highest priority must be given to developing
conservation strategies for protecting those species and subspecies included
in status categories 4 ('vulnerable') and 5 ('endangered'), or whose status
is unknown ('indeterminate') but which have a restricted distribution. A
taxonomic revision of Tayassu pecari
(see below) may result in changes, but the following taxa are currently
considered threatened: Catagonus wagneri
- status category 5; Tayassu pecari
ringens - status categories 2 to 5, depending on population; T. p. spiradens - status categories 4,
5 or indeterminate, depending on population/country; and T. p. equatorius - indeterminate, with very restricted distribution.
Actions needed to develop conservation strategies
for taxa most at risk are: 1.
Implement the
recently agreed conservation action plan for C. wagneri in Paraguay and develop and implement similar action
plans for this species in Argentina and Bolivia (for details, see Taber, 1993
[also on this website]). 2.
Continue
existing ecological field studies of T.
p. ringens in southern Mexico, and conduct status and distribution
surveys on this subspecies in Guatamala, Belize and Honduras, with a view to
the development of management plans in these countries. 3.
Conduct status
surveys and ecological field studies to develop a conservation action plan
for T. p. spiradens in southern
Central America (i.e. Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama). 4.
Conduct status
surveys for T. p. equatorius in
south-west Colombia and north-west Ecuador and, if necessary, develop a
conservation action plans in these areas. 5.
In those
countries and regions mentioned above, where status surveys reveal that
important populations of threatened taxa survive, the following actions are
recommended: ·
Conduct field
studies to determine factors negatively influencing these taxa/populations. ·
Work with
relevant governmental authorities to establish and enforce regulations
against hunting. ·
Assess the
adequacy (size, habitat, and effectiveness of management) of existing parks
with a view to the resolution of management problems and the enhanced future
conservation of those populations. ·
Develop
management plans to conserve peccary populations inside and outside existing
reserves. ·
Promote the
establishment of new parks and reserves wherever necessary to ensure the
protection of more than one population of each threatened taxon. ·
Develop
protected area systems on private land to conserve populations outside
national parks and reserves (with particular priority to Paraguay, the main
stronghold of C. wagneri). ·
Promote the
development and coordination of properly structured captive breeding
programmes for these taxa. ·
Assess the
desirability and feasibility of translocating animals from threatened areas
into reserves (e.g. in Paraguay, C.
wagneri from the Boquerón to Teniente Enciso National Park) and develop
programmes where necessary. B. Encourage the Rational Management of Healthy
Peccary Populations. Peccaries are an important source of protein for
subsistence hunters throughout their range, and models for the successful
management of T. tajacu have
already been developed in the United Sates of America and Peru. Where peccary
populations are healthy, and their meat forms an important part of the diet
of subsistence hunters, a managed harvest of those populations may be
preferable to outlawing hunting, especially as the latter has proved
ineffective in countries where such a policy has been implemented (e.g.
Paraguay, Brazil). The opportunity to harvest non-threatened peccary
populations on a sustainable basis may also provide an incentive for local
people to preserve habitat. As a renewable resource, peccaries could form an
integral part of sustainable development programmes. By comparison, the commercial hunting of peccaries
for meat and/or hides should be prohibited as effective means of control do
not yet exist. However, the taking of hides as a by-product of subsistence
hunting has proved to be sustainable in Peru and should be permitted in this
and other countries under careful management and certain conditions. Sports
hunting, using a seasonal and permit system, should also be permitted in
areas where (i) recreational hunting interests are high, (ii) subsistence
hunting is limited, (iii) the means exist to monitor and control a harvest,
and (iv) it can result in other benefits such as habit preservation. With these provisos, the actions needed to develop
the management of (non-threatened) peccary populations - based on the
recommendations detailed by Bodmer et
al. (1993) - include: 1.
Conduct surveys
to establish status and size of peccary populations. 2.
Conduct surveys
of local human hunting patterns. 3.
Monitor changes
in the age structure, density and hunting pressure on peccary populations and
set quotas where and when necessary. 4.
Divide areas
into management units and implement a rotational hunting system in which some
populations are allowed to rest periodically. 5.
Determine
whether management of the hunt on a population is best done at the level of
the animal, hunter, meat market, or pelt market (under CITES control). However, since it would be impossible to implement
such programmes on a continent-wide basis, particular emphasis should be put
on the establishment and perpetuation of pilot studies in Peru, Brazil,
Argentina and Paraguay, where peccary research projects are already underway. C. Regulate the Peccary Hide Trade. At present, available figures for peccary hide
exports from some countries are unreliable since unmonitored, illegal trade
occurs between neighboring countries and the origin of many legally exported
hides is not known (e.g. it is certain that hides exported from Argentina
include some from Paraguay and Bolivia). With the large volume of trade in
peccary skins it is important to obtain more accurate date on the scale of
harvest and to determine long-term trends throughout the neotropics. Actions required to improve monitoring and
facilitate the enhanced future regulation of the hide trade include: 1. Maintain inclusion
of C. wagneri on Appendix I and
both Tayassu species on Appendix II
of C.I.T.E.S.
2. Initiate or improve
monitoring of the peccary hide market at the local, national and regional
(international) level, as well as intercontinental level; in each case by
determination of the origin, quantity, price and destination of the hides.
3. Determine the size of
the harvest and export figures for producing countries on an annual basis as
well as the number of skins imported by individual countries.
4. Produce and distribute a
peccary hide/leather identification key.
5. Work with CITES and
other relevant (governmental and non-governmental) organizations to stop any
trade in the hides of threatened taxa. D. Development of Education and Training Programmes The need for conservation-education programmes,
especially in rural areas, and the training of local wildlife managers and
biologists must merit high priority if conservation management objectives and
effective wildlife services are to be achieved and maintained over the long
term. Particular priorities include:
1. Production of posters,
education briefs, pamphlets and other materials featuring these animals
and/or topics relevant to their conservation for distribution in areas of
importance to peccary conservation
2. Development and
implementation of conservation education programmes in rural areas in order
to inform local people about peccaries and other wildlife species,
legislation relating to these animals, and the importance and benefits of
conserving them and their habitats.
3. The lack of trained
personnel in many countries/regions should be addressed by the organization
of conservation biology workshops to provide biologists, rangers and wildlife
administrators with the opportunity to obtain field experience in the study
and monitoring of wildlife populations and exchange ideas and expertise. The
provision of grants for biology students from each country to obtain advanced
degrees in wildlife management and related fields should be encouraged. E. Coordinate Peccary Conservation and Management
Programmes Although a great deal more research is needed on
many aspects of peccary biology and management, there is also a need to
capitalize on the findings and conclusions of the few pioneering studies of
these animals that have been conducted, or are currently in progress, in
Bolivia, Brazil, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, the U.S.A. and in Venezuela. Much of
this information is currently inaccessible or effectively unavailable to
wildlife administrators and other relevant people/agencies in many of the
countries of origin of these animals. The dissemination of relevant
information and coordination of future management and research efforts are
therefore accorded a high priority. The following projects are identified as
appropriate means of facilitating this endeavor: 1.
Compile a database on the status, distribution and biology of the
various taxa, and people and agencies working in the field of peccary
conservation, management and research. 2.
Organize an international workshop on peccaries for scientists working
on peccary ecology and conservation, as well as for wildlife managers from
all neotropical countries. The meeting will provide an opportunity for
researchers to compare notes and develop research programmes, enable the
development of regional/international conservation management initiatives,
and facilitate the organization of smaller, regional workshops for wildlife
managers to be trained in field study and population monitoring techniques. 3.
Prepare a handbook on peccary management in Spanish and Portuguese on
how to census populations, how to monitor peccary harvests, and how to
control hunting. This should be written in a simple form accessible to poorly
trained wildlife managers who will carry out much of the work. Future Research Priorities Many questions remain unanswered about the biology
and conservation of peccaries, and more information is needed on a wide
variety of interrelated topics if future management and conservation efforts
are to be implemented effectively. To this end it is imperative that ongoing
ecological research projects in Bolivia, Brazil, Mexico, Paraguay and elsewhere
are continued and that efforts are also made to address the following
priority research topics: 1.
Revise
subspecific taxonomy of both white-lipped and collared peccaries. This is essential if threatened
forms are to be recognized and appropriate conservation measures taken.
Certain problems with the existing scientific nomenclature at generic,
specific and subspecific levels should also be resolved; if necessary by
submission to the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. 2.
Conduct a
neotropic wide questionnaire survey of the status and distribution of the
three peccary species. These questionnaires should be
sent to as many scientists, wildlife managers, government officials,
conservationists and other knowledgeable people as possible, in order to
develop a database of people working on peccaries and to compile unpublished
information on the status and distribution of various taxa. 3.
Determine
habitat requirements, ranging behaviour, and dispersal patterns of all three
peccary species as a means of assessing the adequacy of existing reserves for
maintaining peccary populations, particularly in those areas where sympatry
occurs. 4.
Study
population dynamics, habitat use patterns, foraging habits, spatial
organization, social organization, predator/prey relations and other aspects
of peccary ecology, as a means of improving their management. 5.
Assess the
importance of peccaries as seed predators and dispersers and their potential
role as ecological keystone species in the neotropics. 6.
Determine how
to obtain estimates or indices of peccary population levels in different
habitats. Assess the adequacy of various methodologies in different habitats
in areas where good independent estimates of population sizes exist. 7.
Determine how
to age classify the different species of peccaries in different habitats
based on teeth wear or other methods. Develop standard measures for all
species in tropical forest, savannah, desert, and chaco. 8.
Study the
reproductive biology and genetics of all peccary taxa to provide data for
peccary management and for developing strategies for conserving minimum
viable populations. Determine the
susceptibility of peccaries to various livestock born diseases. |
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Next: Chapter 3 – The Afrotropical
Hippopotamuses |