Influência de fatores biológicos no comportamento sexual de caititus Pecari tajacu (Artiodactyla: Tayassuidae) criados em cativeiro na Amazônia Oriental

Abstract

Hunting pressure and habitat fragmentation are major threats to wildlife in tropical forests. Alternatives economically viable and environmentally sustainable are developed in the Brazilian Amazon region to reduce hunting pressure exerted on populations of game mammals. The collared peccary (Pecari tajacu) is one of the most hunted species in the Amazon region and present a high potential for domestication. The aim of this study was to describe the socio-sexual behavior of collared peccaries bred in captivity and contribute to the improvement of rearing techniques of the species. From May 2004 to May 2006, we studied the behavior of fifty animals distributed in seven groups kept in Alvaro Adolfo’s experimental breeding farm, Embrapa Eastern Amazon (Belém, PA, Brazil). We describe six unpublished variations of nibbling motor pattern and two new courtship and copulation motor patterns. Adult females (≥ 2 years) initiated and received more agonistic interactions than adult males. Sexual interactions increased with age and reached its apex in prime adult animals (≥ 4 years). Adult males initiated sexual interactions exclusively with unrelated females. Our results will guide the reproductive management of collared peccaries in intensive breeding-system, thus indirectly contributing to the conservation of the species in their natural environment.