Chapter 26: Conservation of wild pigs and peccaries281
large, centuries of over-hunting drove individual populations
to extinction until the entire island area had none left. This is
especially impressive, considering that it took 30 years of con-
certed eradication efforts to exterminate all invasive pigs on the
58,500 ha Santiago Island in the Galapagos (Cruz et al. 2005).
Eradicating Eurasian wild boar (S. scrofa) is considered nearly
impossible in larger areas where the species has been introduced
(see Chapters 1, 28, 29, and 30).
Extinction processes on islands are also apparent for ecologi-
cally more vulnerable species with lower reproductive rates such
as the Visayan warty pig, Sus cebifrons, in the Philippines. This
species has been eliminated from three of the six islands where
it was known or presumed to have occurred formerly; i.e. Cebu
(494,000 ha), Guimaras (60,000 ha), and Ticao Islands (33,400 ha).
It is also ‘functionally extinct’ on Masbate (415,000 ha), where
the species was last documented in 1993. Wild populations now
survive only in the last remaining forest fragments on Negros
(1,330,900 ha) and Panay Islands (1,201,000 ha) (where their
remaining habitat comprises about 6 per cent and > 4 per cent of
land area, respectively) (Oliver 2008). This indicates that the spe-
cies needs at least 50,000 ha to survive, and again, this will depend
on local hunting pressure and habitat quality.
An example of different population dynamics in the face
of small population size is the Bawean Island pig (Sus verru-
cosus blouchi), which only occurs in pockets of habitat on the
small island of Bawean (19,000 ha) in the Java Sea, Indonesia.
Populations of this pig are small but relatively stable, mostly
because the Muslims of the island rarely kill pigs, or only at low
rates to reduce crop predation. Similar links between religion
and hunting pressure have been noted for the Mindoro pig (Sus
oliveri), where hunting pressure from certain communities
declined after they converted to the Adventist faith which rec-
ommends abstinence from red meat including pork (E. Schutz,
personal communication; see also Chapter 16).
The above examples indicate that the threats of population
decline and local extinction of peccaries and pig species cor-
relates with the availability and quality of habitat and external
pressures such as unsustainable illegal hunting and cultural or
religious beliefs.Hunting and Trapping
Peccaries are among the preferred game mammals for rural
and indigenous people throughout Latin America, who use
them as a source of food and cash income (Redford & Robinson
1987; Bodmer 1994, 1995; Peres 1996; Robinson & Bennett
2000; Altrichter 2006; Suarez et al. 2009; Reyna-Hurtado et al.
2010). Peccary pelts were exported from many Central and
South American countries during the first half of the twenti-
eth century before the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species (CITES) in 1973. In 1986, collared and
white-lipped peccaries were placed under Appendix II of CITES.
An approach that has been utilized in Peru to control the unsus-
tainable hunting of peccaries in the region is to certify the skins
that are obtained from subsistence hunters who participate in
sustainable management practices (peccary pelt certification)
(Bodmer et al. 2004a; Fang et al. 2008). Currently, only Peru
exports peccary hides, and hides can only be exported if they
originate from subsistence hunters living in the Amazonian
region. Pelts from Peru are sold as a by-product and exported
to the European leather industry for the manufacture of high-
quality shoes and gloves (Figure 26.4) (Bodmer & Lozano Pezo
2001). Other countries, including Bolivia and Argentina, areFigure 26.3 Hunted white-lipped
peccaries on their way to the Pompeya
bushmeat market in Ecuador, adjacent
to Yasuni National Park (photo by Caty
Frankel). (A black and white version of
this figure will appear in some formats.
For the colour version, please refer to the
plate section.).02812:52:18