Part II: Species Accounts252
Status in the Wild
The Chacoan peccary is classified as Endangered by the IUCN
Red List (Altrichter et al. 2016) and is included within Annex
I of CITES. The populations of Chacoan peccary are declining
and fragmented within the species’ limited geographical range
(Altrichter et al. 2016). The total population size is unknown,
but a population of less than 5000 individuals was recently esti-
mated by Proyecto Taguá in Paraguay (J. Campos, personal
communication). Using estimates of density and remaining
habitat for the species in Argentina, M. Altrichter (personal
observation) estimated a population of 3200 individuals in 2002,
although it is possible that other isolated populations inhabit
small habitat remnants in the southern portion of the Argentine
Chaco (Torres & Jayat 2010; Torres et al. 2016). The species has
disappeared from large areas of the Argentine Chaco where its
original range has been reduced by approximately 40 per cent
(Altrichter & Boaglio 2004; Altrichter 2006). Its range has also
been reduced in Bolivia and in the eastern Paraguayan Chaco
(Neris et al. 2002). This decline is due to the combined threats
of habitat loss and hunting. The Chaco forest is being quickly
transformed into large-scale agriculture and cattle ranch-
ing. Over-hunting also continues, especially in Argentina and
Paraguay, even though hunting in these countries is illegal. Most
hunting is done by rural people as a way to obtain bushmeat.
Hunting for its hide used to be more common in the past, but
is rare currently. Its hide is not as valuable compared with the
other peccary species. This species is particularly susceptible
to hunting because individuals frequently dust bathe in groups
in open spaces, including near roads, and often react to danger
by freezing rather than fleeing. This behaviour enables huntersto eliminate whole groups in one encounter (Taber 1993; Juan
Campos, personal observation).
A study in the Argentine Chaco found that the Chacoan pec-
cary is the rarest of the three species of peccaries living in the
area and the most vulnerable to human disturbance. Chacoan
peccaries disappear when forest cover is reduced to less than
87 per cent of the original cover (Altrichter & Boaglio 2004).
Currently, habitat destruction is the major threat. The rate of
clearance for agriculture and cattle pasture in the Paraguayan
and Argentinean Chaco is extremely high (Pearce 2011). In
2013 the Gran Chaco ecoregion lost 502,300 ha due to defor-
estation and the trend continues, with Paraguay having the
fastest and largest deforestation (47 per cent; Caballero et al.
2014). A recent study documented that the Chaco dry forests of
Argentina, Paraguay, and Bolivia have one of the highest defor-
estation rates in the world (Vallejos et al. 2015). Until the end
of 2012, 15.8 million ha of the original habitats of the Chaco
were transformed into croplands or pastures, with the greatest
annual rates of transformation in Paraguay, where deforestation
increased dramatically in the last decade (Huang et al. 2009;
Vallejos et al. 2015). The majority of this consists of the conver-
sion of forest into grassland or pasture, while in Argentina the
major driver of land-cover change has been soybean cultivation
(Caldas et al. 2013). Even inside the Chaco Biosphere Reserve,
created by UNESCO, a total of 734,000 ha were cleared in the last
10 years, with a deforestation rate of 222 ha/day (Guyra Paraguay
2012). A recent workshop to design a conservation strategy was
held in Paraguay, including 30 people from the range countries
(Altrichter et al. 2016). In this meeting, deforestation, hunting,
and lack of information were identified as the major threats to
the species.(a)(b) Figure 23.6of Chacoan peccary. (a) Maxent average^ Predictive distribution model
model shows the continuous suitability of
the Chaco for the species. (b) Categorical
suitable and unsuitable areas. According
to this model about 46% of the Gran
Chaco is suitable for the Chacoan peccary.
Highly suitable areas are concentrated in
the Paraguayan department of Presidente
Hayes, Boqueron and Alto Paraguay, and in
northern Argentina, especially near the bor-
ders of Formosa, Chaco, Salta and Santiago
del Estero Provinces, as well as in the
north-central portions of the Bolivian Chaco.
However, the region is undergoing intensive
habitat loss due to recent land cover conver-
sion, especially in Paraguay (Caldas et al.
2013; Altrichter et al. 2016), suggesting that
the Chacoan peccary distribution range is
probably retracting rapidly (source Ferraz
et al. 2016)..02512:46:08