Social ecology of the white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari) in Calakmul Forest, Campeche, Mexico

The white-lipped peccary (WLP) is a social ungulate that forms the largest groups documented for any tropical forest ungulate species. In the last 20 years WLP have become increasingly rare in Mexico and Central America and several researchers have suggested that more frequent reporting of smaller groups is related to an increased hunting pressure. Here I studied patterns of movement, home range size, and habitat preferences of WLP in a seasonally dry tropical forest, the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve (CBR) in Yucatan Peninsula, Southern Mexico. Additionally, I presented information relevant to the conservation of this species like group sizes and structure, breeding season, population density and hunting patterns of WLP for the Calakmul region of southern Mexico. Home range was among the largest reported ever on the literature for this species. White-lipped peccary preferred ponds, medium semi-perennial forest and low-flooded forest while avoided low-dry forest. Peccaries moved over a large range in the wet season and they performed long movements seasonally. WLP movements are influenced by water availability at least during the dry season and they behave like central place foragers around water sources during this time of the year. Groups performed searching strategies that resembles the Levy-walk movement pattern, as well as coordinate traveling. These strategies seem to be very efficient for searching resources that are non-uniform distributed on the landscape like was demonstrated for the CBR. Groups of WLP were on average larger in the protected area than in four hunted sites, but groups were generally smaller than those reported in other forests along the geographic range of this species. The smaller groups in the hunted areas are a detrimental signal for the conservation of this species in the Calakmul region. Population density is smaller than some estimates being used for legal hunting purposes and subsistence as well as sport hunting occurs on the dry season mainly when this species is breeding and visiting the water-bodies, and consequently is more vulnerable.