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The status and conservation of the Chacoan peccary in Paraguay

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 July 2009

Andrew B. Taber
Affiliation:
Wildlife Conservation International, New York Zoological Society, Bronx, New York 10460, USA.
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Abstract

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The Chacoan peccary Catagonus wagneri is endemic to the dry thorn forest of the Gran Chaco of Paraguay, Argentina and Bolivia. Since its discovery by scientists in the 1970s its population has declined due to overhunting, habitat destruction, and possibly disease. As of 1989 about 5000 individuals are estimated to survive in the Paraguayan Chaco. Small dispersed populations still exist in Argentina and Bolivia, but more information is needed on the status of this species in those two countries. In Paraguay, Chacoan peccaries have almost disappeared from the two national parks within their range and the only significant population exists in an area where there are no reserves. The survival of this species depends on enforcing regulations against hunting both within and outside the national parks, translocating animals to the parks, establishing a system of reserves on private land in critical areas, training of Paraguayan wildlife professionals, and environmental education.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Fauna and Flora International 1991

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