Collared Peccary Range Expansion in Northwestern New Mexico Author(S): Steven Albert, Cynthia A

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Collared Peccary Range Expansion in Northwestern New Mexico Author(s): Steven Albert, Cynthia A. Ramotnik and C. Gregory Schmitt Reviewed work(s): Source: The Southwestern Naturalist, Vol. 49, No. 4 (Dec., 2004), pp. 524-528 Published by: Southwestern Association of Naturalists Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3672415 . Accessed: 17/07/2012 10:54

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http://www.jstor.org 524 TheSouthwestern Naturalist vol. 49, no. 4

COLLARED PECCARY RANGE EXPANSION IN NORTHWESTERN NEW MEXICO

STEVENALBERT,* CYNTHIAA. RAMOTNIK,AND C. GREGORYSCHMITT

Parametrix,Inc., P0.OBox 1473, Zuni, NM 87327 (SA) United States GeologicalSurvey, Fort Collins Science Center,Museum of SouthwesternBiology, Universityof New Mexico, Albuquerque,NM 87131 (CAR) P.O. Box 267, Kirtland, NM 87417 (CGS) *Correspondent:salbert@parametrix. com

ABSTRACT-We report new records of collared peccary (Pecari tajacu) in New Mexico that doc- ument its continued northwardexpansion in the United States, in general, and in northwestern New Mexico, in particular.These records might represent the northernmost extent of its range in the Southwest. Collared peccaries in New Mexico typicallyoccur in desert, rocky, and brushy foothill regions and ripariancommunities. On the Zuni Indian Reservation,animals were observed at elevations up to 2,335 m in pinion-juniperand ponderosa pine habitats.Climate might play an important role in range expansion and contraction as collared peccaries might migrate north during years of drought or mild winters in search of food or new habitat.

RESUMEN-Presentamosnuevos registros del pecari de collar (Pecanrtajacu) en Nuevo M6xico que documentan su continua expansi6n al norte en los Estados Unidos en general, y en el no- roeste de Nuevo Mexico, en particular.Estos datos pueden representarla extensi6n mas al norte de su rango en el suroeste. El pecari de collar en Nuevo M6xico suele ocurrir en zonas deserticas, parajes rocosos, y colinas con mucha vegetaci6n y en comunidades riparias. En la Zuni Indian Reservationse han observado animales en elevaciones hasta 2,335 m en habitatsde pifi6n-enebro y pino ponderosa. Puede ser que el clima juegue un papel importante en la expansi6n y la contracci6n de su rango de distribuci6nya que el pecari de collar puede migrar al norte durante afios de sequia o inviernos templados en bfsqueda de comida o habitat nuevo.

The collared peccary (Tayassuidae: Pecari ta- acquired a photograph of an adult female col- jacu) is a generalist herbivore that ranges from lared peccary that had been trapped in 1987 central South America to the southwestern just east of the reservation (Table 1). The pho- United States and inhabits grasslands, desert tograph is on file with the Zuni Fish and Wild- scrub communities, arid woodlands (Bissonet- life Department. On the Zuni Indian Reserva- te, 1999), and riparian habitat. Recently the tion, collared peccaries occurred at elevations collared peccary has been reported from up to 2,335 m in pifion-juniper (Pinus edulis- Oklahoma in an area immediately adjacent to Juniperus) and ponderosa pine (Pinus pondero- Texas (Stangl and Dalquest, 1990). Over the sa) habitats. past 10 years, residents of the Zuni Indian Res- The earliest distribution map of collared ervation in New Mexico have reported multi- peccaries in New Mexico of which we are aware ple sightings of the collared peccary on the was provided by Bailey (1905:58), in which he Reservation (Table 1), which covers over 1,800 showed peccaries occurring in the "unsettled km2 in McKinley and Cibola counties. We treat- sandhill region of southeastern New Mexico" ed the initial reports with some skepticism be- (present-day Eddy and Lea counties). This area cause they were not accompanied by any phys- is depicted as the northern tip of a continuous ical evidence and a sighting of this species distribution area extending from southern would have represented a considerable range Texas (Bailey, 1905). Mearns (1907) reported expansion from the closest published record in peccaries from several mountain ranges in New Mexico (Findley et al., 1975). However, in southwestern New Mexico in areas presently 1997 we discovered a complete mandible near within Hidalgo County. Ligon (1927) reported the middle of the reservation, and in 2001, we that the species occurred in the United States December 2004 Notes 525

in a narrow zone along the southern boundary of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, but it was most numerous in the extreme southwestern portion of New Mexico, with a few surviving in I .?'i ants I 'v i i y 60 the sand country east of Carlsbad (probably o0 Lea County), where they were formerly abun- q dant. referred this latter in 00 on 00v ro t NN Bailey (1931) group 0 to P. angulatus angulatus, the Texas peccary, o0 and referred the paler one in the southwestern part of the state to P. a. sonoriensis, the Yaqui 00 000 00 C 00 C4 1 00 0() d0' ar 004 N N en o G O CO OO In 1965, Donaldson (1967) estimated cr a t ZO peccary. oo c6 , Oq LqN N G Otr O ON O GO the of collared to include o, "S range peccaries por- Cu tions of Catron, Grant, and Hidalgo counties 0 in the southwestern part of the state and Eddy o 0C C0 0G<0 0 0a 0 G0 0o0 0 0i0 County in the southeastern part of the state, where they were said to be uncommon. The New Mexico of Game and Fish re- y r-qi in in o t- rcGQ to r-l c Department introduced the species in 1965 to the Guada- on o on 7 on on 7oo lupe Mountains in Eddy County, and the ani- 00 0 00000 t 0 00 mal has been regularly observed there in the oa. past 10 years (K. N. Geluso, pers. comm.). The I- or4 aCn s oor s ' s cs ? ?c southwestern subspecies has spread east into GN nGN ?n64 en GN G G cq Luna County and north into the Gila and San Francisco in Catron C drainages County (Findley et al., 1975). Findley (1987) included Otero County as occupied range although we are not 0 aware of any specimen records. "l Additional specimens in the mammal collec- (?) 0 00 G^ tions of the Museum of Southwestern 00Z 0, O04 GGb Z b G 4 ZbOZ o -- Biology G C O I C) - C)C- 0)O 0 (MSB; Appendix 1) and the New Mexico Mu- seum of Natural History (NMMNH; Appendix 1) better define the known range of collared peccary in southwestern New Mexico and pro- '5 5 vide the first voucher specimens for Grant County (MSB 89185), Catron County (MSB \ CA G 1 CA cn v t C cn v r- 25146), and Cibola County (NMMNH 3859). Our specimen from the Zuni Indian Reserva- tion documents the first occurrence in McKin- * 0 Ur( O~~~~~~t C) C --) ley County, a range expansion of 370 km from ? )- -V .- the closest published record in Hidalgo Coun- V4a a ty (Findley et al., 1975), and reveals a contin- E * ued northward expansion in New Mexico (Fig. a/ -6CO.a 1). Izv T*53 2Zog 00000 * 00 000 a in u a A similar northward expansion, helped a4- "abD part by transplant efforts, seems to be occurring in Arizona and Texas. Hoffmeister (1986: It that the of the a 533) suggested range peccary rr. in 40 3 ma. in Arizona might have expanded the past t^ cru O and their "north of the GV c',r c z o years presence Mogol- *. lon Plateau may be a relatively recent event." q^Q^Q^SggQgggg Hoffmeister (1986) did not map many of the Q2XS" S O EEc cE E transplants that occurred in the state. Howev- er, Theimer and Keim (1994) mapped loca- 526 The SouthwesternNaturalist vol. 49. no. 4

Additionalspecimens Specimens reported in Findley et al. 1975 Zuni IndianReservation sightings

- --o 0 50 100 200 I Kilometers

FIG 1-Distribution of the collared peccary (Pecari tajacu) in New Mexico based on voucher specimens and sightings on the Zuni Indian Reservation (inset). December 2004 Notes 527 tions where the Arizona Department of Game quickly their populations can expand north- and Fish transplanted peccaries that were orig- ward. inally captured in southern portions of the state. Two of these locations represent the We thank and C. McKenna and Q. Lalio who northernmost locations in Arizona, but we do worked on the map and C. Hanes, N. Luna, and all of the Zuni communitymembers who reported their not know if these transplants were successful. sightings.J. McConachie provided museum records In Texas, collared have peccaries expanded from the New Mexico Museum of Natural History. their north to the Red River and east at range Comments by M. Bogan, T. Lee, and 1 anonymous least to the Brazos River (Davis and Schmidly, reviewergreatly improved the manuscript.This pro- 1994). Hall (1981) showed the northern extent ject was graciously supported by the Zuni Tribal of collared peccary in Texas to be Montague Council. County, but no voucher specimens were known from this region until Stangl and Dalquest LITERATURECITED (1990) the first vouchers from reported Jack V. 1905. of Texas. North in 1987 and Wichita in 1990. BAILEY, Biological survey County County American Fauna Number 25, United States De- These northern records, however, are probably partment of Agriculture, Bureau of Biological of introductions and not a result of the result Survey,Washington, D.C. natural expansion, because the species was re- BAILEY,V. 1931. Mammals of New Mexico. North ported to have been introduced west of Mon- American Fauna Number 53, United States De- tague County in the 1950s (Dalquest, 1968). partment of Agriculture, Bureau of Biological D.C. Although collared peccaries continue to occu- Survey,Washington, the northern tier of counties in Texas BISSONETTE,J. A. 1999. Collared peccary. In: Wilson, py D. and S. editors. The Smithsonian book former to the E., Ruff, (Schmidly, 2002), populations of North American mammals. Smithsonian Insti- south and east seem to have declined (Schmid- tution Press, Washington, D.C. Pp. 325-326. Natural of the collared ly, 2002). expansions DALQUEST,W. W. 1968. Mammals of north-central peccary continue to the west, however, and in- Texas. Southwestern Naturalist 13:13-22. clude the Trans-Pecos Central Range in west- DAVIS,W. B., AND D. J. SCHMIDLY.1994. The mam- ern Texas (Stangl et al., 1993). mals of Texas. Texas Parks and Wildlife Press, Climate might play an important role in Austin. DONALDSON,B. 1967. Javelina. In: New Mexico wild- range expansion and contraction. Collared life management, New Mexico Department of might migrate north peccaries periodically Game and Fish, Santa Fe. of or mild winters in during years drought FINDLEY,J. S. 1987. The natural history of New Mex- search of food or new habitat. to Subjected pe- ican mammals. Universityof New Mexico Press, riods of snow and cold weather, their survival Albuquerque. likely depends on their behavioral adaptability, FINDLEY,J. S., A. H. HARRIS,D. E. WILSON, AND C. because they have few anatomical or physiolog- JONES.1975. Mammals of New Mexico. University ical adaptations to extremes in heat or cold of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque. E. R. 1981. The mammals of North (Sowls, 1997). Zervanos (2002) recently HALL, America, second edition. and Sons, New York. showed that collared peccaries from dry envi- John Wiley HOFFMEISTER,D. F. 1986. The mammals of Arizona. ronments have relatively larger kidneys than University of Arizona Press, Tucson. those from mesic environments and concluded LIGON,J. S. 1927. Wild life of New Mexico: its con- renal structures are flexible in to that response servation and management. New Mexico Depart- environmental variation. Behavioral adapta- ment of Game and Fish, Santa Fe. tions to escape winter cold include making MEARNS,E. A. 1907. Mammals of the Mexican beneficial use of microclimates within their boundary of the United States, part 1, families to Muridae. Bulletin of the United habitat. For example, they have been observed Didelphidae States National Museum 56:1-530. using caves and tunnels in the Tucson Moun- SCHMIDLY,D.J. 2002. Texas natural history: a century tains and in the sun during cold morn- basking of Texas Tech University Press, Lubbock. in the winter these change. ings (Sowls, 1997). Despite SOWLS,L. K. 1997. Javelinas and other peccaries: un- adaptations, some populations probably their biology, management, and use, second edi- dergo periodic extinction and repopulation tion. Texas A&M University Press, College Sta- and, thus, might be limited in how far or how tion. 528 TheSouthwestern Naturalist vol. 49, no. 4

STANGL,F. B., ANDW. W. DALQUEST.1990. Status of CATRONCOUNTY: S. U. Canyon, 5 mi S, 3 mi W the javelina, Tayassu tajacu, in north-central Texas Reserve (MSB 25146); Blue Range Wilderness Area, and southern Oklahoma. Texas Journal of Sci- Apache National Forest, junction W Fork Pueblo ence 42:305-306. Creek and Pueblo Creek, W. S. Mountain Trail 43 STANGL,F. B., W. W. DALQUEST,AND S. KUHN. 1993. (MSB 89025). CIBOLACOUNTY: El Malpais National Mammals from the Beach Mountains of Culber- Conservation Area, 200 yards N entrance La Ventana son County, Trans-Pecos Texas. Texas Journal of Natural Arch, Highway 117, mile marker 39 Science 45:87-96. (NMMNH 3859). EDDY COUNTY:6.2 mi S Hope THEIMER,T. C., AND P. KEIM.1994. Geographic pat- (MSB 86326); Carlsbad Caverns National Park, 0.33 terns of mitochondrial-DNA variation in collared mi W, 0.32 mi N Whites City (MSB 66727); 2 mi S of peccaries. Journal Mammalogy 75:121-128. El Paso Gap (NMMNH 4006). GRANTCOUNTY: Gila S. M. 2002. Renal structure ZERVANOS, adaptations River at mouth of Nichols Canyon (MSB 89185). HI- among three species of peccary. Southwestern DALGO COUNTY:Animas Mountains, Indian Creek Naturalist 47:527-531. Mill, T33S R18W Sec. 8 (MSB 46381); Animas Moun- tains, Joyce Mill, T33S R18W Sec. 22, 5,025 feet el- Submitted 15 May 2003. Accepted30January 2004. evation (MSB 49695); NM 338, 7 mi S Interstate AssociateEditor was Cody W. Edwards. Highway 10 (MSB 71340); Gray Ranch, 31?38.71'N, APPENDIXI-Localities and catalog numbers of ad- 108?50.95'W (MSB 85584); 5.6 miles S Animas on ditional voucher specimens in the Museum of South- NM 338, 4,500 feet elevation (MSB 85585). MCKIN- western Biology (MSB) and the New Mexico Muse- LEY COUNTY:Zuni Indian Reservation, TO1N R18W um of Natural History (NMMNH) shown in Fig. 1. Sec. 12, 1,951 feet elevation (MSB 124035).

VERTEBRATE INVENTORY OF RICHLAND CREEK WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA IN EASTERN TEXAS

WADE A. RYBERG, LEE A. FITZGERALD, RODNEY L. HONEYCUTT, JAMES C. CATHEY,* AND TOBYJ. HIBBITTS

Department of Wildlife and FisheriesSciences, Texas A&M University,2258 TAMUS, CollegeStation, TX 77843-2258 (WAR, LAF, RLH, TJH) Texas Agricultural ExperimentStation-Uvalde, 1619 GarnerField Road, Uvalde, TX 78801 (fCC) Present address of WAR-Department of Biology, Washington Universityin St. Louis, Campus Box 1137, One BrookingsDrive, St. Louis, MO 63130-489 Present address of TJH: Communicationand Behaviour Research Group, School of Animal, Plant, and Environmental Sciences, Universityof Witwaterstrand,Private Bag 3, WITS 2050, South Africa *Correspondent:[email protected]

ABSTRACT-Terrestrialhabitats of Richland Creek Wildlife Management Area, Texas, were sur- veyed for vertebrate diversity in 1998 and 1999. During the 2-year sampling period, 10 species of amphibians, 20 species of reptiles, and 23 species of mammals were collected or observed. These actions represent an effort of Texas Parks and Wildlife to inventory the fauna of state-owned property. This information will begin to form a baseline to assess future management decisions.

RESUMEN-Llevamos a cabo un inventario de los vertebrados en habitats terrestres del Richland Creek Wildlife Management Area, Texas, durante 1998 y 1999. Durante los dos afnos del periodo de muestreo, observamos o colectamos 10 especies de anfibios, 20 especies de reptiles, y 23 especies de mamiferos. Estas acciones representan un esfuerzo de Texas Parks and Wildlife para hacer un inventario de la fauna en las propiedades del estado. Esta informaci6n sera la base para evaluar futuras decisions de manejo de recursos naturales.