Use and conservation of Cracidae (Aves: Galliformes) in the Peruvian Amazon

Abstract

Four species of the avian family Cracidae were studied in the Pacaya‐Samiria National Reserve in north‐eastern Peru. These large‐bodied birds are an important source of protein for local communities on the periphery of the reserve. An estimated 425 kg of Cracidae biomass were harvested over a 1‐year period by three communities. Pipile cumanensis was the most frequently hunted bird, both in terms of individuals hunted and biomass extracted. Mitu tuberosa and Penelope jaquacu also made up a substantial amount of the biomass extracted, but were hunted less frequently. Densities of all species of Cracidae within 5 km of the villages were substantially lower than in the interior of the reserve. Our results suggest that M. tuberosa and P. cumanensis are overharvested and P. jaquacu and Ortalis guttata are harvested within the maximum estimated sustainable levels. In this study hunting grounds were along waterways and adjacent to protected populations, which created a source–sink arrangement. If sink areas are overhunted, the unhunted populations inland of the waterways could be acting as source populations that replenish overhunted areas.

Population Density of the Helmeted Curassow (Pauxi pauxi) in Tamá National Park, Colombia

“…Hunting of some species may favor other species. In the study of Begazo and Bodmer (1998), O. guttata was more abundant in hunted areas, because it is little hunted compared with the other 3 (larger) species.…”

“…Hunting is a major threat for cracids, which may constitute the main hunted item in some ethnic communities (Begazo and Bodmer 1998). The risk is increased if the hunted animals are rare (Brooks 1999).…”

“…Three Begazo and Bodmer (1998) presented quantitative data on harvested birds, so we used qualitative categories for analysis. In addition to our paired hunting and no-hunting data, we looked for an effect of hunting across our wider dataset that included unpaired sites.…”

Evaluación Del Conocimiento Indigena Kichwa Como Herramienta De Monitoreo en La Abundancia De Animales De Caza

“…Densidad de especies de caza en la Reserva Nacional Pucacuro calculados mediante el método Distance y Anchura fija. Aquino et al 2000, Salovaara et al 2003, Peres & Palacios 2007, Begazo & Bodmer 1998, Aquino et al 1999 Robinson & Redford 1986. Categoría basadas en las referencias de densidades bibliográficas, b Categorías creadas de acuerdo al rango, de 1 (raro) a 3 (abundante).…”

“…El fraile S. scireus es también abundante y forma grandes grupos pero no es una especie preferida por los cazadores (Bodmer, 1995), y tiene diferentes tácticas frente a la escasez de alimento, consumiendo insectos, flores y exudados (Stone, 2007) y no es impactado negativamente por la cacería (Peres & Palacios, 2007), todas estas características contribuyen a que sea una de las especies más abundantes. Entre las especies aptas para la caza, la pucacunga P. jacquacu puede soportar la cacería pero desaparece o es rara cuando es excesivo (Begazo & Bodmer, 1998;Barrio, 2011), la huangana T. pecari puede soportar la caza debido a su estrategia reproductiva, incrementando el número de fetos por hembra en lugares con caza intensa (Fang et al, 2008) aunque otros autores mencionan que su abundancia declina en hábitats con mucha caza (Reyna-Hurtado & Tanner, 2005;Peres & Palacios, 2007). Esta especie presenta poblaciones oscilantes en décadas, la cual es muy sensible a la reducción por factores dependientes de la densidad.…”