Chaco peccary
| Chaco peccary | ||||||||||||
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Chaco peccary ( Catagonus wagneri ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Catagonus | ||||||||||||
| Ameghino , 1904 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Catagonus wagneri | ||||||||||||
| Rusconi , 1930 |
The Chaco peccary ( Catagonus wagneri ) is a South American species of umbilical pigs (peccaries).
features
The basic color is brown-gray, it has a matt shoulder collar made of lighter hair and a black stripe on the middle of the back. It is slightly larger than a collar peccary . The head and nose are larger, ears and tail longer than other peccary species living today. The head body length is 90–110 cm, the shoulder height 50–70 cm and the body weight 30–40 kg.
Way of life
Like all peccaries, the Chaco peccary is a sociable animal. In the groups, which consist of 4–10 animals of different sex and age, the ranking is obviously less pronounced than in the other peccary species. According to reports, most births occur between July and January, when the females, who can have offspring before they are two years old, give birth to their mostly 2–3 pups . Important components of the diet are seeds, roots and cacti, but carnal foods are also taken. Supposedly they can survive without drinking. Overall, this peccary species seems to have a more vegetarian diet than the other two. Adult Chaco peccaries know only the puma and the jaguar as natural enemies .
distribution
The Chaco peccary inhabits the thorny dry forests and savannah areas of the Gran Chaco in southeastern Bolivia, Paraguay and northern Argentina, where it was only discovered alive in the 1970s. Before it was only known to science through Pleistocene fossils .
Existing conditions
Due to hunting and competition with grazing cattle, the numbers of this species have declined sharply. In Paraguay about 5,000 animals have survived, which, however, form a highly fragmented population, the same applies to the few thousand animals in Argentina and Bolivia.
The Chaco peccary occurs in various protected areas, for example in the huge Kaa-Iya del Gran Chaco National Park in Bolivia and in the Copo National Park in Argentina.
literature
- Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999, ISBN 0801857899 .
- DE Wilson and DM Reeder: Mammal Species of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005, ISBN 0801882214 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Catagonus wagneri in the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN 2017.3. Posted by: Altrichter, M., Taber, A., Noss, A., Maffei, L. & Campos, J., 2015. Retrieved May 4, 2018.
