UNIVERSIDADE ESTADUAL DE SANTA CRUZ

WILDLIFE FARMING: AN ALTERNATIVE TO UNSUSTAINABLE

HUNTING AND

DEFORESTATION IN NEOTROPICAL FORESTS?

published in Biodiversity and Conservation (2011) 20: 1385–1397

(DOI 10.1007/s10531-011-0047-7)

SELENE NOGUEIRA & SÉRGIO NOGUEIRA-FILHO

Applied Ethology Laboratory and Wildlife Research Group

Ilhéus, Bahia, Brazil

seleneuesc@gmail.com & slgnogue@uesc.br

NOT FAVOR

IN TERMS OF ITS ECOLOGICAL SUITABILITY AND PROFITABILITY COMPARED

WITH SUBSISTENCE HUNTING.

FAVOR

Wildlife Farming: a polemical and

controversial topic among conservationists…

ARGUES

- High costs of farming compared to

hunting

- Lack of appropriate technical skills and

funds.

- Cultural constraints hinder such

initiatives.

RECOMMENDATION

Expansion of domestic livestock

production as an answer to the social

and economic demands of traditional

communities.

ARGUES

- Alternative to subsistence hunting

- Reduces: pressure and dependence

on wild animal populations.

- Provide food and income in areas

where local conditions limit traditional

agricultural production.

RECOMMENDATION

Captive breeding of wildlife can be

beneficial to both the environment and

traditional communities.

POLEMICAL TOPIC

This article sets out this proposal, and discusses the implications for tropical forest

integrity and rural population dependency on forest resources.

We quantified the importance of wildlife hunting as a source of food for forest

communities in Brazil, as well as in other Neotropical countries.

In addition, we reviewed the consequences of unsustainable harvesting practices

that result in extensive biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation. Besides

overhunting, we highlighted the threat to wild animals‟ habitats through clearing of

land for pasture and agriculture.

Using collared peccary (Pecari tajacu) farming in the Amazon region as a model, we

discussed the ecological and economic advantages of wildlife farming and its

constraints as a conservation tool.

Subsistence hunting: the

importance and concerns

In Brazil, as well as in other Neotropical countries, wildlife hunting is an important source

of food and income for forest communities. In some regions of the rainforest, the meat of

several species represents approximately 90% of the animal protein consumed.

The animals are threatened by uncontrolled

hunting.

In the Brazilian Amazon mammalian species

densities have declined by up to 80%.

Such reductions have resulted in a „bushmeat crisis‟.

The animals are threatened by destruction of their natural habitats through

clearing of land for pastures and agriculture...

Clearing of land for

pasture and agriculture

Introduction of some domestic species

to supply the subsistence needs of the communities in

Neotropical forested areas

Ecological dangers for fragile ecosystems…

e.g.: domestic pigs, which are generally reared in open areas around human

dwellings have continuously escaped from captivity and increased the feral pig

populations, impacting vegetation and soil characteristics (IBGE 2008).

e.g.: 30 years ago some buffalo escaped from a nearby experimental government

farm and nowadays they are responsible for a range of ecological damages population

in the Guaporé Biologic Reserve in Rondonia, Brazilian Amazon region.

The value of wildlife: direct and

indirect categories. Chardonnet et al. 2002

McNeely et al. 1990

direct...

indirect...

…are the consumptive and the productive usage of such resources.

…are non-consumptive use values: scientific research, bird watching, and option values,

such as those related to the reserve of natural resources for future uses.

Finally, there are existence values: ethical feelings from the existence of wildlife

Among Neotropical wild mammals, the collared

peccary (Pecari tajacu) is very adaptable and

could be an ideal animal for incorporation into

agro-forestry projects (Sowls 1997).

Suitability of the collared peccary for

farming

• This species has a fore-stomach

with active microbial fermentation

and they digest forages as

ruminants;

• Breeders can take advantage of this

physiological trait using locally

available feed resources in their

production.

Suitability of the collared peccary for

farming

• These products are less expensive than the

corn and soybean meal normally used to feed

livestock. Furthermore, they are obtained locally

and there is no need of deforestation for planting

these crops.

• Producing peccaries in

a pig-like intensive

production system

results in low

productivity,

abandonment of young,

infanticide, and

consequently higher

production costs than

those associated with

the semi-intensive

production system.

Peccary farming

• Peccaries maintained

in a semi-intensive

production system

showed an annual

birth rate of 2.6

young/female*year,

while in a intensive

system only 1.7

young/female*year

(Mayor et al. 2007).

Peccary farming

• In the semi-intensive

production system the

young showed a daily

weight gain three

times higher than the

rate recorded for

young peccaries

reared in pig-like

facilities (Andrade et

al. 2011).

Peccary farming

• Young peccaries

reared under semi-

intensive system

reached 19.0 kg, the

slaughter weight,

within 15 months

when fed with forest

fruits and locally

available agricultural

by-products.

Peccary farming

Weig

ht

(kg)

Age (months)

♂

♀

• Forested areas, ranging from 1,000 to 50,000 m2, may be enclosed with wood or mesh-wire fences to provide paddocks for housing peccaries in semi-intensive production system.

• Therefore, there is no need to clear forests for this practice.

Peccary farming

Peccary productivity

2.5 to 3.0 years

Slaughter weight

Slaughter weight

100kg/ha* year

1,600 kg/ha*year 15 months

To maintain just one head of beef

cattle in the Amazon regio wee

need to convert 1.0–1.5 hectare of

forest into pasture.

One hectare of forest was fenced

and 10 adult peccaries, two males

and eight females, were introduced.

…and four years latter, the herd size

increased to 40 adult animals and

the annual production was 1,600 kg

of peccary per hectare.

Data collected from experiments on peccary farming over a 10 year period

indicated that …

Conservation impact

This productivity level (1,600 kg/ha*year) is 19,000 times higher than that

obtained through the sustainable harvest of peccary in the Peruvian Amazon

forest (36 g of peccary meat/ha*year, Bodmer and Robinson 2004).

This favors peccary farming, which can contribute significantly to the provision of

food security for forest-dependent people, decreasing the subsistence hunting of

threatened species.

The peccary farmers also would increase their income-earning capability by

supplying the hides to international leather market.

152 EUROS

in Paris

Constraints to production and policy

implications

More investment in scientific research.

As example… the collaborative project on collared peccary between Europeans

and South American partners:

“Development of different production systems for the sustainable exploitation of

the collared peccary in Latin America‟‟- INCO-peccary.

Some results of this project …

Reproduction potential of the female peccary was attained (Mayor et al. 2007);

Balanced diets with locally available feed resources were formulated (Nogueira-

Filho et al. 2006);

Breeding programs were designed that considered and included animal welfare

issues directly related to the collared peccary (Nogueira et al. 2010).

Other Neotropical species with

the same potential…

Capybara

(Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris)

White-lipped peccary

(Tayassu pecari)

Paca

(Cuniculus paca)

Thank you!

To our sponsors FAPESB, CAPES, The European Commission

To Dr. Ferran Jori (CIRAD), coordinator of INCO pecari

project.

To Dr. Ana Rita de Araújo Nogueira (EMBRAPA, Brazil)

seleneuesc@gmail.com

slgnogue@uesc.br

To organizers of “André Buldgen” Bedim Prize.

To Jérôme Bindelle Chairman Bedim.