Part II: Species Accounts260
Density estimates of collared peccary vary enormously, from
0.05 to as high as 16 ind./km^2 (Table 24.1). The factors affecting
densities may be a combination of ecological and anthropogenic
elements. For example, Peres (1996) showed evidence that den-
sity estimates vary according to hunting pressure. In Calakmul
Biosphere Reserve, collared peccary had similar relative abun-
dance estimates in hunted and protected sites despite being the
most hunted ungulate in the area (Weber 2000; Reyna-Hurtado &
Tanner 2007). However, recent estimates indicate a significant
decrease in relative abundance in heavily hunted sites (Briceño-
Mendes et al. 2016). It is unknown how densities of peccaries vary
where they are sympatric with white-lipped and Chacoan pecca-
ries; however, it has been observed that collared peccary densities
increased at La Selva, Costa Rica, a few years after the local extinc-
tion of white-lipped peccaries (Romero et al. 2013).Movements and Home Range
Research in movement patterns of collared peccary goes back
to early studies of Minamon (1962, cited in Sowls 1997), who
marked several animals, re-trapped them and found a home range
of 2.6–8.0 km^2 in the Tucson Mountains of Arizona. Estimates of
home range in Texas varied between 0.73 and 2.25 km^2 (Ellisor &
Harwell 1969), and 0.52 and 1.56 km^2 (Schweinsburg 1971). In
Arizona, Day (1985) found an average home range of 3.21 km^2
for 25 distinct herds, while in the drier Paraguayan Chaco, the
home range was estimated between 1.5 and 6.8 km^2 (100 per
cent Minimum Convex Polygon) (Taber et al. 2011). In some
tropical areas it seems that home-range estimates are smaller
than the arid zones of the USA, with the exception of home-
range estimates in the Amazon, where Fragoso (1999) estimated
10.1–11.7 km^2 (100 per cent Minimum Convex Polygon) for
two herds in Maraca Island in Roraima, Brazil. In northwest-
ern Costa Rica, home ranges were between 0.64 and 1.09 km^2
(95 per cent Minimum Convex Polygon) for three monitored
herds (McCoy et al. 1990), and Judas and Henry (1999) reported
home-range estimates of three herds ranging between 1.57 and
2.43 km^2 (95 per cent Kernel method) from French Guiana. The
average home-range sizes of two radio-tracked collared pec-
cary herds in a 21.78 km^2 fragment of semi-decidous Atlantic
Forest of Brazil were, respectively, 3.69 and 1.80 km^2 (95 per cent
Fixed Kernel method) or 4.07 and 1.07 km^2 with the 95 per cent
Minimum Convex Polygon method (Keuroghlian et al. 2004).
In contrast to white-lipped peccaries, home-range use by col-
lared peccaries in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil showed fewer and
more diffuse centres of activity and less pronounced seasonal
shifts (Keuroghlian et al. 2004).
Variation of home-range area among different herds in
the same region is not unusual. Some have hypothesized that
larger herd sizes are correlated with larger home-range sizes
(Castellanos 1983; Fragoso 1999). However, McCoy et al.
(1990) observed the opposite trend. Keuroghlian et al. (2004)
suggested that differences in home range were due to variabil-
ity of resources (habitats, fruit sources, etc.) among locations.
Home-range size may also vary by seasons. The collared peccary
herds studied by McCoy et al. (1990) used larger areas during
the dry season than during the wet season. They attributed the
greater home-range sizes during the dry season to a period offruit scarcity. Keuroghlian et al. (2004) found that one herd had
a larger home range in the wet season than in the dry season,
while another herd showed less of a difference and an opposite
trend, i.e. the dry season range was slightly larger than the wet
season range. However, Ilse and Hellgren (1995) and Judas and
Henry (1999) observed smaller area use when food resources
were reduced and found that variation of fruit production
in time and space in the French Guianas influenced collared
peccary home-range size. From a landscape perspective in the
Atlantic Forest of Brazil, the size of the home range of collared
peccary was undoubtedly affected by the territorial behaviour
and minimal overlap of adjoining herds (Keuroghlian et al.
2004, 2008). Territoriality among herds has been observed by a
number of authors (reviewed by Sowls 1997). Taber et al. (2011)
also found that home ranges of collared peccary overlap to some
degree, but herds are territorial, defending a core area.Activity Patterns
The collared peccary seems to be a diurnal/crepuscular species
that travels or moves early in the morning and late in the after-
noon (Keuroghlian et al. 2004). Movement pattern varies with
temperature, food and water availability, and hunting pressure
(Taber et al. 2011). Castellanos (1985) found animals moving
peaks between 5:00 to noon and then from 16:00 to 19:00 in the
Central Llanos of Venezuela. In the Pantanal, collared peccary
activity peaked in the early evening, possibly avoiding white-
lipped peccary activity peaks, which occurred in the morning
(Galetti et al. 2015). In La Selva, Costa Rica, where white-lipped
peccaries are locally extinct, Romero et al. (2013) found that col-
lared peccaries were more diurnal than nocturnal. In arid envi-
ronments, the collared peccary can be nocturnal to some degree
to avoid intense heat (West Texas, Bissonette 1982; Chaco,
Argentina, Altrichter 2005). In the semi-arid tropical forest of
Calakmul, collared peccary movement peaked between 8:00
and 12:00 (Briceño-Mendes et al. 2016).Feeding Ecology
The collared peccary is primarily frugivorous in the tropics
(>60 per cent of the diet is composed of fruits), but its diet varies
according to the ecosystem (Sowls 1997; Desbiez et al. 2009).
Collared peccaries can consume roots, tubers, leaves, fruits,
and flowers as well as invertebrates and small vertebrates (Beck
2005; Keuroghlian et al. 2008; Taber et al. 2011). In the Atlantic
Forest of Brazil, fruit items represented 78 per cent in the dry
and the wet seasons (Keuroghlian et al. 2008), similar to what
was found in the Pantanal (Desbiez et al. 2009). In the tropical
forest of Calakmul of southern Mexico, collared peccaries fed
on 37 species of plants with proportions of 58 per cent fruits
and 30 per cent leaves (Perez-Cortez & Reyna-Hurtado 2008).
In the Atlantic Forest, diggings associated with tuber consump-
tion were made exclusively by collared peccaries (Keuroghlian
et al. 2008). In addition, there was a seasonal trend that showed
higher tuber consumption in the dry compared to the wet sea-
son (dry: 63 per cent, wet: 35 per cent, n = 22 diggings associated
with tuber consumption; Keuroghlian et al. 2008). Studies from.02612:46:11