Species Fact Profile: Chacoan Peccary (Catagonus wagneri)

                                                              Chacoan Peccary

                                            Catagonus wagneri (Rusconi, 1930)

Range: Northern Argentina, Paraguay, southern Bolivia, southern Brazil

Habitat:  Hot, semi-arid grasslands and forests

Diet:  Cacti, Flowers, Roots, Seed Ponds

Social Grouping: Mixed-Sex Herds up to 20

Reproduction:  Give birth once per year.  Young are most commonly born from September through December, but can be born year round.  Gestation period 150 days.  Births appear to be linked to abundant food and rainfall.  Average of 2-3 (range 1-4) per litter, with females leaving the herd to give birth, then rejoining later.  Young are precocial, able to run within hours of birth.  Sexually mature at 16-24 months.

Lifespan: 15 Years

      Conservation Status:  IUCN Endangered.  CITES Appendix I

• Largest peccary species.  Approximately 96-117 centimeters long, 52-70 centimeters tall at the shoulder, weigh 30-40 kilograms (males and females roughly equal in size).  Pig-like appearance with well-formed rostrum with tough, leathery snout.  Differs from other peccaries with longer ears, snout, and tail.  Have three hind toes, whereas other peccaries have two (lacks the dewclaw on the hind foot that the other two species have). 
• Differ from pigs in having upper canines that are small and point down, rather than long and curved upward and outward.  Very small feet allow for maneuverability among spiny plants
• Bristle-like fur is brownish-gray in color, with a dark stripe running across the back and white fur on the shoulders.  No sexual dimorphism.  Juveniles are grizzled tan and black with a tan shoulder color until about 3-4 months of age.  
• Most active by day, especially in the morning.  Gradually circle through home range.  Range is marked with a milky, odorous substance secreted from a gland on the back and spread by rubbing.  Also defecate at designated stations.  Sleep in groups, using a sleeping spot for 2-3 nights in a row.
• When confronted by predators (puma, jaguar), form a wall, standing shoulder to shoulder, grunting and chattering teeth.  This posture, effective against natural predators, makes them vulnerable to human hunters, who can shoot them easily
• Rub cacti on the ground, rubbing off the spines, or pull spines off in their teeth and spit them out.  Specialized kidneys break down acids from cacti, while two-chambered stomach allows for digestion of tough foods.  Act as seed dispersers.  
• Seek out salt licks for minerals, will also eat leafcutter ant mounds.  Obtain most of their moisture from their diet.  Occasionally scavenges, eats small animals.
• Name references both the Gran Chaco region of South America, characterized by arid conditions and dense vegetation (known colloquially as “the green hell”) and peccary, a Brazilian Tupi word which means “animal which makes many paths through the woods.”  Native name is tagua
• Only living member of the genus Catagonus, which contains at least two other extinct species
• Approximately 3000 in wild.  Population decreasing
• Genus originally described from subfossil remains.  Species was identified through fossil remains in 1930, thought to be extinct until made known to western science in 1971 (previously known to local peoples) by Dr. Ralph Wetzel in the Argentine province of Salta, making it one of the most recently “discovered” large mammals
• Species is in decline due to a combination of habitat loss and fragmentation, as habitat is converted in ranchland, hunting (primarily for meat, though also for hides to a much lesser extent compared to other peccaries), and diseases.
• Founder group of 10 was exported by Paraguayan government (captive-bred stock) to Phoenix Zoo in 1996, with first births taking place within days of arrival in the US.  Population has grown steadily since then, with animals being exported from the US to establish population in Europe