Records of the bush dog (Speothos venaticus) in Central Amazonia, Brazil

How rare is rare? Quantifying and assessing the rarity of the bush dog Speothos venaticus across the Amazon and other biomes

“…The mean abundance in fragmented and non-fragmented areas across the Amazon Basin was 0.060 and 0.117 ± SD 0.067 individuals per 100 trap-days, respectively. The mean for all camera-trap sites evaluated in the Amazon (including non-detection sites) was 0.058 ± SD 0.072 individuals per 100 trap-days (range 0–0.185; Martins et al, 2007; Tobler et al, 2008; Negrões et al, 2011; Pimenta, 2012; Benchimol & Peres, 2015; Borges et al, 2015; Rocha et al, 2015; this study). Bush dog abundance in the Amazon was equivalent to that in all other areas outside the Basin (mean 0.092 ± SD 0.061 individuals per 100 trap-days; t = 0.460, df = 12, P = 0.654; Table 2).…”

“…The species’ rarity was confirmed by a lack of records in several other similar camera-trap studies across the Amazon, which accounted for an additional 40,949 trap-days (Table 2). Thus, considering the other sites where the focal species was observed (Table 2), the relative abundance of bush dogs in the Amazon was estimated to be 0.013–0.185 individuals per 100 trap-days (mean 0.107 ± SD 0.064; Negrões et al, 2011; Bergallo et al, 2012; Rocha et al, 2015; this study). The mean abundance in fragmented and non-fragmented areas across the Amazon Basin was 0.060 and 0.117 ± SD 0.067 individuals per 100 trap-days, respectively.…”

“…Relative abundance estimates were from areas where bush dogs were considered to be relatively common (based on visual and/or other evidence). As such, this species is rare even when recorded in greater numbers (Bianchi, 2009; Meyer et al, 2015; Rocha et al, 2015; this study). Of all the carnivores that occur in the Amazon Basin only the so-called phantom species, the Amazon weasel Mustela africana and the northern tiger cat Leopardus tigrinus , may be rarer than the bush dog (Oliveira et al, 2013; Rodrigues, 2013).…”

“…1 Locations of the four study sites in the Amazon Basin where camera-trap surveys of the bush dog Speothos venaticus were conducted. Other camera-trap studies have been conducted at (1) Los Amigos Conservation Concession, Peru (Tobler et al, 2008), (2) Chandless State Park (Borges et al, 2015), (3) Amanã Sustainable Development Reserve (Rocha et al, 2015), (4) Piagaçu-Purus Sustainable Development Reserve (Pimenta, 2012), (5) Balbina Hydroelectric Dam (Benchimol & Peres, 2015), (6) Caxiuanã National Forest (Martins et al, 2007), (7) Carajás National Forest (Bergallo et al, 2012), and (8) Cantão State Park (Negrões et al, 2011). …”

“…Most information available on the species in Brazil comes from opportunistic observations (e.g. Peres, 1991; Silveira et al, 1998; Rocha et al, 2015; Michalski et al, 2015a), and it has only recently become the subject of longer-term studies (Lima et al, 2009, 2012, 2015).…”