Hunting and water scarcity affect habitat occupancy by peccaries (Tayassu pecari and Pecari tajacu) in Calakmul, Mexico

Abstract

Abstract The white-lipped peccary (WLP; Tayassu pecari) and the collared peccary (CP; Pecari tajacu) are social ungulates of huge ecological and economic importance. We determined the habitat occupancy for peccaries in a rural community bordering the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve in Campeche, Mexico. Twenty-eight stratified sampling points were randomly placed in the study area during a rainy and a dry season, where the presence of both peccary species was measured in relation to three ecological variables (habitat type, presence of natural predators, and water availability) and one anthropogenic variable (hunting). Ten sampling points were established with camera traps (total days/camera traps = 2268), and 18 sampling points were plots of 20 m2 to detect feces and/or footprints. To assess the relationship between both species’ presence and the selected variables, models of habitat occupancy were constructed using a binary matrix of detection/non-detection using the PRESENCE program. For WLP and CP, the respective estimated occupancy probabilities were 30 and 40% in the rainy season and 88 and 44% in the dry season. Our results suggest that occupancy by WLP is affected by habitat type and predators in the rainy season and by water availability and hunting in the dry season. Conversely, for CP, occupancy is affected by water availability and hunting in the rainy season, and by habitat type and predators in the dry season. Thus, hunting negatively affects the way that WLP occupy specific habitats, such as floodplain forest and medium sub-deciduous forest, particularly during periods of water scarcity when the species is more vulnerable to hunting.