Part III: Conservation and Management282
exploring prospects for developing a managed commercial har-
vest of peccary hides for export (Keuroghlian et al. 2013). An
increase in this legal harvest will need to be carefully monitored,
because it may inadvertently promote illegal commercial use
of the species, and hence demand for skins and other peccary
products. A revision of the CITES permit on trade might be nec-
essary with the growing interest of peccary hide trade in other
countries. However, most hunted animals in Peru and other
Amazonian countries are not used for hides, but instead sold
to local domestic markets (Bodmer et al. 2004b; Suarez et al.
2009). In Ecuador, hunters commercializing wildlife meat at the
Pompeya wild meat market adjacent to the Yasuní National Park
in north-western Ecuador provided 11,717 kg of wild meat, of
which 48 per cent represented white-lipped peccary biomass
(Suarez et al. 2009) (Figure 26.3). In the same region of Ecuador,
Franzen (2006) has documented population declines of vulner-
able wildlife in other communities (Huaorani) where hunting
adjacent to the national park has increased since the construc-
tion of oil roads. The certification programme in Peru provides
incentives for subsistence hunters to benefit from the interna-
tional sales of the skins, stimulates wildlife management with
the local communities, and provides a mechanism of control-
ling hunted animals (the certification programme is monitored
by government officials) (Bodmer et al. 2004a,b; Pires & Moreto
2011), and benefits from having a healthy peccary population in
their forests. The impact on hunting on peccary populations in
these regions needs to be monitored.
The white-lipped peccary’s social behaviour of forming large
herds and remaining together when in danger makes them more
vulnerable to hunting because several individuals of the samegroup can be killed simultaneously (Altrichter & Almeida 2002)
(Figure 26.5). Peres (1996) cited a hunting incident in which
82 individuals from a single herd were killed. He documented
local extinctions at all of his studied Amazonian sites which had
heavy to moderate hunting pressure. Even low hunting pres-
sures may be a problem in certain regions where food resources
are limited and peccary population densities are naturally low
(Peres 1996). In contrast, collared peccaries in the tropics spend
a large portion of the day alone, so when they are hunted, not
more than one or two individuals are killed at any one time
(Peres 1996). However, for collared peccary the behaviour of
fleeing until they find a refuge (a log or a cave) poses a risk, as the
hunters easily kill them once they are cornered by dogs (Sowls
1997). The Chacoan peccary is also hunted throughout its range,
mostly for food but also for its hide. It is one of the most impor-
tant sources of bushmeat for rural and indigenous people who
inhabit the arid Chaco biome in Argentina and Paraguay. Until
recently, subsistence hunting was the largest threat to this spe-
cies (Sowls 1997; Altrichter et al. 2015); because this species is
diurnal and frequently uses roads, it is easily detected by hunt-
ers and their dogs. This, in addition to their natural low density
and low reproductive productivity, makes peccaries in general
highly vulnerable to hunting (Altrichter 2005).
All African and European pig species are hunted to some
extent, primarily for food, pest control, or for recreational hunt-
ing (Oliver 1993; Meijaard 2013; Massei et al. 2015). In some
areas, like Borneo, pigs are the main source of protein for most
non-Muslim people. Puri (1997), for example, reported that
bearded pigs, Sus barbatus, contributed 79.8 per cent of all catches
and 91 per cent of all the edible meat yielded in his study area inFigure 26.4 White-lipped peccary
skin gloves for sale in Europe (photo
by Andrew Taber). (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