Short-Term Success in the Reintroduction of the Red-Humped Agouti Dasyprocta Leporina, an Important Seed Disperser, in a Brazilian Atlantic Forest Reserve

Abstract

Reintroduction is an increasingly important tool to restore local extinctions and ecological interactions. Evaluating the success of reintroduction projects allows conservationists to learn from previous experience. Here we report on the reintroduction of agoutis, Dasyprocta leporina, to a Brazilian Atlantic Forest reserve in order to (1) determine the short-term status of the reintroduction; (2) describe and evaluate the management procedures that contributed to reintroduction success; and (3) identify the fruits and seeds consumed and buried by the agoutis, as an indication of their role in restoring ecological processes. We captured and tagged 21 adult individuals from a semi-captive population and reintroduced four males and seven females. One male died and almost all individuals lost weight (range=0-620 g; n=11) during quarantine (median=133 days; range=67–243 days; n=20). Six males and three females died, but the others gained weight during acclimatization (range=150–260 g; n=5). Individuals abandoned the food supplement up to 87 days after release, establishing home-ranges at least three times larger than in natural populations of agoutis. The estimated annual survival rate was 0.83, and 10 nature-born cubs were observed. The reintroduction was considered successful in the short-term. Among the main recommendations for future reintroductions, we suggest the reduction of quarantine and the maintenance of acclimatization periods, with structural improvements for both. Agoutis were seen eating fruits and seeds of 10 species and burying seeds of three of them. The buried seeds are from zoochoric large-seeded trees, thus enhancing recruitment in a disperser-impoverished forest.