Subsistence hunting can change the demographic structure of wild mammal populations, increasing the proportion of young animals, inducing females to reproduce early and increasing litter sizes. We examined the relationship between hunting pressure and age structure in the Vulnerable white-lipped peccary Tayassu pecari, analysing the distribution of age classes at seven sites in the region Terra do Meio in the Brazilian Amazon. These sites differ in the number of human inhabitants and hence were subject to differing hunting pressures. We completed semi-structured interviews with local people to assess the importance of hunting and of the white-lipped peccary as food. We also estimated the age of hunted white-lipped peccaries by assessing tooth eruption and tooth wear in skulls of hunted individuals. Our results indicated that the white-lipped peccary was the most frequently hunted terrestrial animal in the region. Fishing, followed by hunting, provided the main sources of animal protein. Our data suggest there is no relationship between age structure and hunting at the study sites. The social structure and mobility of white-lipped peccaries seem to minimize the effects of hunting on age structure. Our results, similar to previous studies, show that the age structure of the white-lipped peccary is robust to hunting impacts. Other factors may have stronger effects on age structure than subsistence hunting. We suggest that deforestation may explain the prevalence of older individuals in peccary populations to the north of our study sites.

We report a range-wide status assessment of a key Neotropical ecosystem architect, the white-lipped peccary Tayassu pecari, categorized as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, using published information and unpublished data from 41 scientists in 15 range countries. We estimate that the white-lipped peccary has been extirpated in 21% of its historical range over the last 100 years, with reduced abundance and a low to medium probability of long-term survival in another 48% of its current range. We found major range declines in Argentina, Paraguay, southern Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, north-east Brazil, Mexico and Costa Rica. This species is particularly at risk in more xeric ecosystems, especially the caatinga, cerrado and pampas. Hunting and habitat destruction are the most severe threats, although there are also unexplained sudden die-offs suggestive of disease. We evaluate our results in light of this species’ important interspecific interactions and its role as an ecosystem architect. One of our recommendations is that conservation efforts should focus on landscape conservation of large, continuous and ecologically intact areas containing a mosaic of different habitat types.

The white-lipped peccary Tayassu pecari is a social ungulate that forms the largest groups documented for any tropical forest ungulate species. Since the 1950s the species has become increasingly rare in Mesoamerica, and the more frequent reporting of smaller groups may be related to increased hunting pressure. Here we address the conservation status of this species in terms of its group size and structure, breeding season, population density, and relationship with hunting patterns in the Calakmul region of southern Mexico. Group sizes, age structure and breeding season were recorded in one large non-hunted site (Calakmul Biosphere Reserve) and four adjacent hunted sites. Population density was estimated in the Reserve and hunting patterns were recorded from three adjacent villages. Results indicate that hunting pressure affects peccary populations by reducing group size. White-lipped peccary groups were larger in the Reserve (median = 25) than in the hunted areas (median = 16) but groups were generally smaller than those reported in other forests. These smaller group sizes indicate conservation concern for this species in the Calakmul region. In addition, the estimated population (0.43 km2) is one of the lowest reported for this species. Hunting occurs mainly in the dry season, which is the peak of the breeding season and when peccary groups visit water bodies, where they are more easily hunted.