White-lipped peccary
| White-lipped peccary | |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Tayassuidae |
| Genus: | Tayassu |
| Species: | T. pecari |
| Binomial name | |
| Tayassu pecari (Link, 1795) |
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Abstract
The White-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari), is a hog like animal found in Central and South America. It roams in dense, humid tropical rainforests and can also be found in drier savannas. It lives in herds of 20-300 individuals that on average take up about 120 square kilometers to fully function. This species of animal are omnivores feeding mostly on fruit and are usually found traveling great distances to obtain it. If this resource is in demand and difficult to find peccaries are not partial to eating leaves, stems, or animal parts. The white-lipped peccaries have several unique attributes that allow them to stay with and identify their herd, which is essential for their survival in the wild.
Physical description
The white-lipped peccary lives to be an average of 13 years old and can give birth to two peccaries at a time. The head and body length ranges from 90-139 centimeters, the shoulder height is between 40-60 centimeters, the tail length is from 3-6 centimeters, and the adult weight is 25-40 kilograms. The white-lipped peccary is generally brown or black. The coat is bristly and has hairs running lengthways down the spine growing longer than the hairs running down the body making a crest, which stands up when the peccary becomes excited. The peccary has a round body with a long snout that ends in a circular disk where the nasal cavity starts. They have white markings that start below the snout and run to the cheek area just below the eyes.
Food
White lipped peccaries are omnivores feeding on fruits, nuts, vegetation, and small amounts of animal matter. Their main predators are the jaguar, puma, and potentially boa constrictors. Since the white-lipped peccary relies heavily on fruit they travel a lot to where the fruit and other essential resources are located. The fruiting season dictates a lot of the peccary behavior. Fruit is more abundant in primary forests rather than secondary or coastal forests so population is more dense in these regions. There is generally a period of fruit shortage during the end of the wet season so the consumption of non-primary foods like leaves, stems, and animal parts is increased.
Distribution, habitat, and movement
The white-lipped peccary is native to Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. The peccary is regionally extinct in El Salvador and Uruguay. They thrive in dense, humid tropical forests and can also be found in Central and South America rummaging in dry forests and savannas. When these species roam in their range land they can be very loud, clattering their teeth and grunting to one another in an effort to communicate and stay within the herd. They communicate with olfactory, acoustic, and physical contact to keep together in the herd. This is essential when warding off predators like the jaguar because it may not attack when there are 200 peccary barking and running around.
Behavior
The White-lipped peccary is diurnal feeding and performs all of its activities during the day, more specifically in the mornings and afternoons. They are the only large neotropical mammal that live in large herds. These herds can consist of 20-300 peccaries consisting of both male and female and there has been cases of herds reaching sizes up to 2000 peccaries. The sex ratio within herds is about 1.4 – 1.8 females to males. The home range for the peccary is from 60-200 kilometers squared in the Peruvian Amazon. The peccary can spend up to two thirds of its day traveling and feeding. The rangelands of peccaries are massive due to its large number of individuals within the heard. Often peccaries can be smelt before seen because they give off a skunk like odor. They are known to be aggressive when cornered or feel threatened. They give off a loud “bark” and show off their teeth in an attempt to avoid conflict.
Breeding
The White-lipped peccary can breed throughout the year depending on location. The breeding season is extremely variable and consists of two distinct peaks in areas such as Costa Rica one occurring in February and one in July. Mexico has distinct breeding seasons in April and November. The breeding season follows the fruiting season so the variability can be consistently different in each different region they are found. The young stay with the mother but are weaned by six months. Sexual maturity is reached between one and two years old
Major threats
The two main threats to the White-lipped peccaries survival are deforestation and hunting. The peccaries need a large rangeland to roam because they have such large herds and the destruction and subdivision of their natural rangeland can have devastating effects on their population. Loss of habitat can lead to exposure for poachers who can easily kill many peccaries of a herd at one time.
Endangerment status
The White-lipped peccary is listed as near threatened by the IUCN and listed on Appendix II on CITES.
Special behavior
White-lipped peccaries have a scent gland on their back, which emits a scent making a strong bond between members of the herd. White-lipped peccaries are a good indicator of how healthy the forest is because they live in such large herds and in large areas.
References
- ^ Reyna-Hurtado, R., Taber, A., Altrichter, M., Fragoso, J., Keuroghlian, A. & Beck, H. (2008). Tayassu pecari. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 6 November 2009. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of near threatened.
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Wikispecies has information related to: Tayassu |
- Louise H. Emmons and Francois Feer, 1997 - Neotropical Rainforest Mammals, A Field Guide.
- Reyna-Hurtado, R., Taber, A., Altrichter, M., Fragoso, J., Keuroghlian, A. & Beck, H. (2008). Tayassu pecari. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 23 February 2009.
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