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
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)
To organizers of “André Buldgen” Bedim Prize.
To Jérôme Bindelle Chairman Bedim.