Factors Underlying the Interactions Between People and Wildlife in the Argentine Chaco”
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FACTORS UNDERLYING THE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN PEOPLE AND WILDLIFE IN THE ARGENTINE CHACO by Mariana Altrichter ________________________ A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the SCHOOL OF NATURAL RESOURCES In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY WITH A MAJOR IN RENEWABLE NATURAL RESOURCES In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2 0 0 5 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Dissertation Committee, I certify that I have read the dissertation prepared by Mariana Altrichter entitled “Factors Underlying the Interactions Between People and Wildlife in the Argentine Chaco”. and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. William Shaw Date: May 4th, 2005 Dissertation Director Diane Austin Date: May 4th, 2005 Committee Member Robert Steidl Date: May 4th, 2005 Committee Member Guy McPherson Date: May 4th, 2005 Committee Member Mamadou Baro Date: May 4th, 2005 Committee Member Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate’s submission of the final copies of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. William Shaw Date: May 4th, 2005 Dissertation Director 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirement for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgement of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript is whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his or her judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. SIGNED Mariana Altrichter 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS • First of all, I thank the people of the Impenetrable who so generously shared with me their homes, their food, their life, their knowledge and their experiences. • I thank my committee members, Bill Shaw, Bob Steidl, Diane Austin, Guy McPherson, and Mamadou Baro, who provided insightful comments to improve my papers. • I thank the people of the Advanced Resource Technology laboratory of the U of A: Craig Wissler, Mikey Reed, Andy Honaman and Patrick Banabe. • I thank Andrew Noss, Edella Schlager, Peter Sherman and Richard Bodmer for reviewing some of the articles. • This study forms part of a larger project coordinated by the Dirección de Fauna y Flora Silvestres of Argentina. I am grateful to this agency for entrusting me with this stage of the project and to the technical staff for their support. • I thank the two funding agencies that provided most of the funds to carry out this study: The Federal Office of Veterninarie, CITES Authority, Switzerland, Government of Switzerland and the Servizio Conservazione della Natura, Ministero dell´Ambiente, CITES Italy, Italy. I also thank other agencies for their financial support: Idea Wild, Sigma Xi, Tinker Grant Program for Latin America Studies of U of A, Graduate College of U of A Women Studies of U of A, College of Agriculture of U of A and Fellowship Wallace Research. • I thank my husband, Peter, and all my friends and their kids for making my life in Tucson so enriching and fun. Xavier, Richard, Cora, Tiffany, Rocio, Mary, John, Gavin, Pepe, Tania and Eleonora. • I thank my friends and field assistants: Gabriel, Luis, Omar and Natalia. • I especially thank Gabriel, who was with me during all my fieldwork, and was able to take us out of the most remote places, fix our old truck, work hard under the hot temperatures of the summer and the freezing temperatures of the winter, always maintaining a good spirit. 5 DEDICATION To the people of the Chaco. To my parents and siblings. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT........................................................................................................................9 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................11 Definitions ............................................................................................................... 12 The local setting....................................................................................................... 13 Jaguars ..................................................................................................................... 18 Peccaries .................................................................................................................. 19 PRESENT STUDY...........................................................................................................22 REFERENCES.................................................................................................................29 APPENDIX A: DISTRIBUTION AND RELATIVE ABUNDANCE OF PECCARIES IN THE ARGENTINE CHACO: ASSOCIATIONS WITH HUMAN FACTORS ........................................................................................................................36 Abstract.................................................................................................................... 37 Introduction.............................................................................................................. 38 Study area and data collection .................................................................... 40 Statistical analysis ....................................................................................... 45 Results...................................................................................................................... 46 Relative abundance of peccaries, distribution, and herd size ..................... 46 Associations between presence and absence of peccaries with human factors .......................................................................................................... 47 Local perceptions on peccaries populations trend ...................................... 48 Discussion................................................................................................................ 49 Acknowledgments ................................................................................................... 55 References................................................................................................................ 61 APPENDIX B: THE STATUS OF JAGUARS (PANTHERA ONCA) IN THE ARGENTINE CHACO ...................................................................................................65 Introduction.............................................................................................................. 67 Study area ................................................................................................................ 69 Methods ................................................................................................................... 71 Results...................................................................................................................... 73 Jaguar’s range............................................................................................. 73 Livestock predation and locals’ perceptions and reactions to jaguars ....... 75 Discussion................................................................................................................ 76 Jaguars’ future in the Argentine Chaco....................................................... 83 Acknowledgments ................................................................................................... 86 References................................................................................................................ 90 APPENDIX C: WILDLIFE IN THE LIFE OF LOCAL PEOPLE OF THE SEMI- ARID ARGENTINE CHACO ........................................................................................97 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS-Continued Abstract.................................................................................................................... 98 Introduction.............................................................................................................. 99 Study Area ............................................................................................................. 101 Methods ................................................................................................................. 102 Dietary importance of wildlife................................................................... 102 Economic importance of wildlife ............................................................... 105 Results.................................................................................................................... 106 Access to domestic meat............................................................................. 106 Use of wildlife as food................................................................................ 107 Hunting methods ........................................................................................ 109 Other uses of wildlife ................................................................................. 110 Economic importance