Chacoan peccary  (Catagonus wagneri)

The recent decline in the range and numbers of this species is due to a number of factors, including hunting for meat, habitat destruction, disease and predation by larger felids like jaguars (Panthera onca) (4). All species of peccary in the Gran Chaco are hunted for their meat by local people, even in the national parks. This species is particularly susceptible as they frequently dust bathe in groups in open spaces, including on roads, and often react to danger by standing their ground rather than fleeing. This behaviour enables hunters to eliminate whole groups in one encounter (4).

Furthermore, habitat destruction is a major threat to this species. In the Paraguayan Chaco area the rate of forest clearance for agriculture and cattle pastures has been estimated as 1,500 km² per year. Without vegetation cover, this species has no shelter from predation and hunting, and no food to eat (5). In Argentina and Bolivia much of the land is overgrazed by livestock and degraded by fire. However, Chacoan peccaries seem to be able to adapt to this degraded habitat as long as some food and shelter is available (4).

In the late 1970s and 1980s there were reports of large groups of Chacoan peccaries dying from diseases. The nature of the diseases remains unknown though foot-and-mouth and bovine rabies were common in the region at this time amongst livestock (4).

Hunting of all wildlife in Paraguay is officially prohibited and its exportation in Argentina is illegal. However, such regulations seem to be ignored and un-enforced, as hunting of the Chacoan peccary exists across its range. In 1990 a conservation action plan for this species was submitted to the Paraguayan Government, and in 1991 a similar plan was given to relevant authorities in Bolivia and Argentina (4).