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Assessment of the hunting of mammals using local ecological knowledge: an example from the Brazilian semiarid region

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Abstract

The hunting of wild animals remains a common activity in various parts of the world, especially in rural communities with poor socioeconomic conditions. To investigate patterns of mammal hunting, this study adopted a rural community located in semiarid Brazil as a model to test whether variables such as perceived abundance, activity period (day or night) and animal biomass could influence the consumption potential of mammal taxa. For this study, a checklist/interview technique using 32 photographs of mammals recorded in the region and two photographs of species that did not occur in the region, which acted as “control” species, was used, in addition to other visual stimuli and free lists. All species presented in the photographs, with the exception of the “control” species, were recognized as occurring in the region. Fourteen species were cited as being those most hunted locally. The species cited as most hunted had an average perceived abundance higher than the group of the least-hunted species. However, there was no significant relationship between hunting of a species and its locally perceived abundance. No significant difference in hunting pressure between diurnal and nocturnal species was found, nor was a relationship between animal biomass and hunting pressure observed. Our findings suggest that perceived abundance is an important factor for choosing a resource fauna, but other factors such as intended use, meat flavor and vulnerability to hunting, among others, may influence the potential use of a species.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the funding organizations that effectively supported this research: CAPES, CNPq (471989/2012-6) and FACEPE (APQ-1264-2.05/10). The authors also thank the CNPQ for the research productivity scholarship granted to the UPA and RRNA and the ICMBio and all of the residents of the Horizonte community for their contributions to the development of this research.

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Correspondence to Rômulo Romeu Nóbrega Alves or Ulysses Paulino Albuquerque.

Appendices

Appendix 1

See Fig. 2.

Fig. 2
figure 2

Sources: a www.flickriver.com, b www.bluechannel24.com, c www.wotcat.com, d www.mae-da-lua.org, e www.klimanaturali.org, f www.livingorganisms-joshua.blogspot.com.br, g www.flickr.com, h www.flickr.com, i www.iefrancaves.blogspot.com.br, j www.capitaldasnascentes.org.br, k www.flickriver.com, l www.pib.socioambiental.org, m www.planetmammiferes.org, n www.flickriver.com, o www.biolib.cz, p www.olhares.uol.com.br, q www.hurriyetdailynews.com, r www.natgeocreative.com, s www.summagallicana.it, t www.combinacionanimal.blogspot.com.br, u www.biolib.cz, v www.faunaparaguay.com, w www.flickriver.com, x www.rbej.com, y www.dicionariotupiguarani.blogspot.com, z www.biolib.cz, aa www.scientific-web.com, ab www.licenciamento.ibama.gov.br, ac www.faunaparaguay.com, ad www.ib.usp.br, ae www.infoescola.com, af www.flickr.com

Photographs of mammal species used in the checklist/interview in the community Horizonte, municipality of Jardim, Ceará, Northeastern Brazil: a (Linnaeus, Panthera onca 1758) (jaguar), b Puma concolor (Linnaeus, 1771) (cougar), c Puma yagouaroundi (Saint-Hilaire, 1803) (jaguarundi), d Leopardus tigrinus (Schreber, 1775) (oncilla), e Leopardus wiedii (Schinz, 1821) (margay), f Leopardus pardalis (ocelot) (Linnaeus, 1758), g Cerdocyon thous (Wied-Neuwied, 1824) (common fox), h Conepatus semistriatus (Boddaert, 1785) (striped hog-nosed skunk), i Eira barbara barbara (Linnaeus, 1758) (tayra), j Galictis vittata (Schreber, 1776) (greater grison), k Procyon cancrivorus (Cuvier, 1798) (crab-eating raccoon), l Ozotoceros bezoarticus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Pampas deer), m Mazama gouazoubira superciliaris (Brazilian brocket), n Mazama gouazoubira namby (Fitzinger, 1879) (gray brocket), o Tayassu tajacu (Linnaeus, 1758) (collared peccary), p Tamandua tetradactyla (Linnaeus, 1758) (southern tamandua), q Tolypeutes tricinctus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Brazilian three-banded armadillo), r Euphractus sexcinctus (Linnaeus, 1758) (six-banded armadillo), s Dasypus novemcinctus (Linnaeus, 1758) (nine-banded armadillo), t Cabassous unicinctus (Linnaeus, 1758) (southern naked-tailed armadillo), u Callithrix jacchus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Common marmoset), v Didelphis albiventris (Lund, 1840) (white-eared opossum), w Kerodon rupestris (Wied-Neuwied, 1820) (rock cavy), x Galea spixii (Wagler, 1831) (Spix’s yellow-toothed cavy), y Dasyprocta prymnolopha (Wagler, 1831) (black-rumped agouti), z Mus musculus (Linnaeus, 1758) (house mouse), aa Rattus norvegicus (Fischer de Waldheim, 1803) (brown rat), ab Gracilinanus agilis (Burmeister, 1854) (agile gracile opossum), ac Calomys callosus (Rengger, 1830) (large vesper mouse), ad Rhipidomys sp. (climbing mouse), ae Bolomys lasiurus (Lund, 1841) (hairy-tailed bolo mouse), af Trichomys apereoides (Lund, 1839) (Common punaré).

Appendix 2

See Fig. 3.

Fig. 3
figure 3

Panthera leo (Linnaeus, 1758) (lion) (a) and Equus burchelli (Graty, 1824) (zebra) (b)

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da Silva Neto, B.C., do Nascimento, A.L.B., Schiel, N. et al. Assessment of the hunting of mammals using local ecological knowledge: an example from the Brazilian semiarid region. Environ Dev Sustain 19, 1795–1813 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-016-9827-2

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