Mammals

This species is active during the day, particularly in the late morning. It spends much of its time browsing on fleshy plants such as cacti and bromeliads. Other foods eaten include roots, seeds, fruit and forbs. The species occasionally eats carrion and may also prey on small mammals. It obtains essential minerals from eating mineral-rich soil at naturally occurring salt-licks and leaf-cutter mounds. The species is well adapted to the dry, hostile environment in which it lives. It gains most of its water from the fleshy plants it eats, and can concentrate its urine to conserve additional water. The hottest part of the day is spent in dust and mud wallows, or resting in the shade of low brush or tall trees. Chacoan peccaries are highly social, and are generally found in groups of 2-10 individuals. These groups usually consist of 4-5 adults and accompanying juveniles. The home range of this species is thought to be around 1,100 ha, and contains a core area of about 600 ha. Groups maintain their territories by marking areas with scent from glands on their backs. They also scent-mark other members of their group. Most births occur in the austral spring months of September, November and December, with fewer litters born during the dry season (June–August). Litter size varies from 1-4, with the usual number of young being 2-3. The young are born in a well-developed state and are able to run within a few hours. Females give birth to their first litter at around two years of age. Life expectancy of this species in the wild is thought to be around 9 years. The main natural predators of peccaries are pumas and jaguars.

Inhabits hot, semi-arid thorn forests and steppe, dominated by low-lying succulent plants and thorny bushes.

The total population size is unknown. The most recent survey (conducted more than 10 years ago) resulted in a population estimate of around 5,000 individuals in Paraguay, with perhaps another few thousand persisting in the dry Chaco regions of Argentina and Bolivia.

Declining.

Classified as Endangered (EN A1acde, B1+2bde, E) on the 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

The main threat to the species is from habitat loss and fragmentation. Native vegetation is being replaced by grass to provide pasture for cattle within the Gran Chaco. This reduces the amount of food available and leaves the animals with no shelter from predators. Peccaries are also declining as a result of overhunting for meat. The species is hunted throughout its range, even within national parks and reserves, and often entire groups are eliminated in a single encounter. Disease may also be a threat; during the late 1970s and early 1980s large groups of Chacoan peccaries died possibly as a result of contracting diseases such as foot-and-mouth and bovine rabies, which were sweeping through livestock populations in the area.

The species is listed on Appendix I of CITES, to which all three Chaco countries are signatories. Hunting of all wildlife in Paraguay is prohibited and the species is protected from exportation, trade and commercial exploitation in Argentina. However, these laws are not enforced and widespread hunting continues to occur. Status surveys have been carried out throughout the species’ range and national conservation action plans have been written for each of the three countries in which it occurs. Chacoan peccaries are found at low densities in two national parks in Paraguay - the Defensores del Chaco (7,800 km²) and Teniente Enciso (400 km²) - and one protected area in Argentina, the El Copo National Park (1,140 km²), although it is doubtful whether any of these areas support viable populations. There is evidence to suggest that the species can adapt to habitat that has been degraded by overgrazing or fire providing some food and shelter is available. Chacoan peccaries have proved difficult to maintain in captivity. However, a captive breeding station was established in 1986 at Estancia Toledo, near Filadelfia, in the central Paraguayan Chaco with funding from the Foundation for Endangered Animals, the Zoological Society of San Diego, and Lincoln Park Zoo. Despite initial problems there has been some limited success with breeding the species at the centre. Several zoos across the United States are currently participating in the American Zoo and Aquarium Association’s Species Survival Plan (SSP) for Chacoan peccaries. Conserving and managing these captive populations will help safeguard against the extinction of the species in the wild.

The IUCN/SSC Pig, Peccaries and Hippos Specialist Group produced a Conservation Action Plan for the species in 1993. It recommends a number of priority actions, including the establishment of additional national parks or private reserves where substantial peccary populations still exist, and enforcing regulations against hunting both inside and outside reserves. It also recommends regular monitoring of the species and the establishment of education and public awareness programmes so that local people will become involved in conservation of the species. Efforts to breed Chacoan peccaries in captivity should continue and wild caught individuals from areas being deforested should be translocated to protected areas where possible. Research on the species’ status and behavioural ecology, and human hunting patterns in the Chaco should continue so that effective management recommendations can be made. These recommendations should include research into, and implementation of, ecologically sustainable development practices in the Chaco.

Pigs, Peccaries and Hippos Specialist Group (PPHSG)
The broad aim of the PPHSG is to promote the long-term conservation of wild pigs, peccaries and hippos and, where possible, the recovery of their populations to viable levels.

Altrichter, M. 2005. The sustainability of subsistence hunting of peccaries in the Argentine Chaco. Biological Conservation 126(3): 351-362.

Altrichter, M. 2004. Distribution and relative abundance of peccaries in the Argentine Chaco: associations with human factors. Biological Conservation 116(2): 217-225.

ARKive. (Oct 2006).

Nowak, R.M. 1999. Walker's Mammals of the World. Sixth edition. The Johns Hopkins University Press. Baltimore and London.

Oliver, W. L. R. 1993. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan: Pigs, Peccaries and Hippos. IUCN: Gland, Switzerland.

Pigs & Peccaries Specialist Group. 1996. Catagonus wagneri. In: IUCN 2006. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 16 July 2006.

Pigs, Peccaries and Hippos Specialist Group (PPHSG)

Theimer, T. C. and Keim, P. 1998. Phylogenetic relationships of peccaries based on mitochondrial cytochrome b DNA sequences. In Journal of Mammalogy 79(2): 566-572.

Yahnke, C. J., Unger, J., Lohr, B., Meritt, D. A. and Heuschele, W. 1997. Age specific fecundity, litter size, and sex ratio in the Chacoan peccary (Catogonus wagneri). Zool. Biol. 16: 301-307.

Distribution map based on data provided by the IUCN Global Mammal Assessment.