Abstract
Capturing small carnivores is often necessary for obtaining key ecological data. We compared the efficiency of box and leg-hold traps, using live and dead bait, to capture six carnivore species (Herpailurus yagouaroundi (E. Geoffroyi, 1803), Leopardus tigrinus (Schreber, 1775), Nasua nasua (Linnaeus, 1766), Cerdocyon thous (Linnaeus, 1766), Eira barbara (Linnaeus, 1758), and Galictis cuja (Molina, 1782)). The use of leg-hold traps significantly increased the capture rate of carnivores (5.77%) and non-target species (non-carnivores, 11.54%). Dead bait significantly attracted more non-carnivores than carnivores and live bait was more efficient for capturing carnivores (2.56%) than non-carnivores (0.77%). Both box and leg-hold traps caused some minor injuries (swelling and claw loss). We provide recommendations for the ethical use of these trap and bait types.
Highlights
From August 1997 to July 1998, we accumulated a total of 736 trapnights (684 with box-trap, and 52 with leg-hold trap) to capture small carnivores at Ipanema National Forest (23°25’ S−23°17’ S; 47°35’ W− 47°40’ W), São Paulo State, Brazil
We found a significant difference between the mean capture rate of non-carnivores and carnivores using box and leg-hold traps (t= -57.26, df= 999, p< 0.001; t= -37.56, df= 999, p
The use of leg-hold traps significantly increased the capture rate for carnivores and non-carnivores together when compared to box-traps (χ2 = 13.73; df= 1; p< 0.001)
Summary
ISSN-0034-7744) Vol 55 (1): 315-320, March 2007 from a radio-telemetry study using leg-hold and Tomahawk-type box-traps, with different combinations of dead and live bait. From August 1997 to July 1998, we accumulated a total of 736 trapnights (684 with box-trap, and 52 with leg-hold trap) to capture small carnivores at Ipanema National Forest (23°25’ S−23°17’ S; 47°35’ W− 47°40’ W), São Paulo State, Brazil. Based on the normally distributed resampled data, we calculated a t test (two way sample) between the means of capture rate within different types of traps and baits.
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