Chacoan peccary  (Catagonus wagneri)

The Chacoan peccaryis active during the day, when it feeds on cacti, fruit, roots and herbs (4). It uses its tough leathery snout to roll cacti on the ground, rubbing the spines off, and may even pull the spines off with its teeth and spit them out (5). To obtain essential minerals like calcium and magnesium this species licks and eats mineral-rich soil from naturally occurring salt licks and leaf-cutter ant mounds (4) (5).

Chacoan peccaries maintain territories, using scent glands on the back to mark home ranges which may measure up to 1,100 hectares in size, but with smaller care areas of about 600 ha (4). They live in small stable groups of 2 - 10 individuals, with most groups consisting of four to five adults and accompanying juveniles (4). These animals are social and communicate by various sounds from grunting to chatters of the teeth (5). Females produce their first litters at a minimum age of two years, and have one litter per year with a mean litter size of one to four young. The offspring are well developed and able to run a few hours after birth. Individuals are thought to live for up to nine years (4).