Chacoan Peccary

About the Chacoan peccary

The Chacoan peccary, also called the tagua, is the only living species in the genus Catagonus and the largest of the three generally accepted peccary species. It lives in the Gran Chaco, a roughly 140,000-square-kilometer region spanning parts of Paraguay, Bolivia, and Argentina. Its story is an unusual one: the species was first described in 1930 from fossils and was assumed to be extinct, only to be found alive in 1971 in Argentina's Salta province — a fact well known to local people long before Western science caught up. Because it was formally described as extinct before its rediscovery, it's classed as a Lazarus taxon, a status it shares with another South American native, the bush dog.

Physically, the Chacoan peccary has many pig-like features, including a well-formed rostrum and a tough, leathery snout. Its bristle-like hair is generally brown to almost gray, with a dark stripe running along the back and white fur on the shoulders. Compared with other peccaries, it has longer ears, a longer snout, and a longer tail, plus white hairs around the mouth and a third hind toe that other peccary species lack. Its upper canines point downward rather than out and up, as they do in true pigs — a feature that may help signal other herd members to stay close together while moving through dense bush. There is no sexual dimorphism in the species.

The Chacoan peccary has adapted closely to the harsh, dry conditions of the Gran Chaco, which is covered mostly in thorny scrub vegetation with only scattered giant trees. Well-developed sinuses help it cope with the dry, dusty air, and its relatively small feet allow it to maneuver among the region's spiny plants without injury.

Behavior and diet

Chacoan peccaries travel in herds of up to 20 animals and are active mainly during the day, especially in the morning when they do most of their traveling. Herds follow a general travel cycle through their home range that runs about 42 days, letting individuals monitor and effectively lay claim to their territory. They communicate through a range of sounds, from grunts to chattering teeth, and while individuals can be aggressive — charging and biting on occasion — the species overall is less combative than some other peccaries. When threatened, herd members will line up in a defensive wall to present a harder target to predators or hunters. They also mark trees and shrubs with a milky, odorous secretion produced by glands on their backs, spread by rubbing, and they bathe frequently in mud or dust and defecate at consistent "stations."

Diet is built around the tough vegetation of the Gran Chaco, especially cacti such as Cleistocactus baumannii and Opuntia discolor. A Chacoan peccary rolls cactus pads on the ground with its snout to rub off the spines, or pulls spines out with its teeth and spits them away, and its kidneys are specialized to help break down the acids those cacti contain; a two-chambered stomach helps it digest the tough material generally. It also grazes occasionally on bromeliad roots and eats acacia pods and fallen cactus flowers, and it actively seeks out salt licks that form around ant mounds and human construction sites, drawing essential minerals such as calcium, magnesium, and chlorine from them.

Reproduction is tied loosely to food and rainfall: young are typically born between September and December, though litters have turned up nearly year-round when conditions allow. Litters average close to 2.72 embryos, and females may leave the herd to give birth before rejoining afterward. Newborns are precocial, able to run within a few hours of birth, and their coloring already resembles that of the adults.

Range and habitat

The Chacoan peccary is confined to the Gran Chaco, an arid region of roughly 140,000 square kilometers spread across Paraguay, Bolivia, and Argentina. The habitat there is hot and dry, dominated by low-lying succulents and thorny bushes with only occasional giant trees rising above the scrub. The species' physical adaptations — its well-developed sinuses and its small, maneuverable feet — are closely tied to surviving in this dusty, spine-covered landscape.

Conservation status

The Chacoan peccary is considered an endangered species, with a total estimated population of only around 3,000 animals. Because it is endemic to what was once an isolated region of South America, it is especially vulnerable to human activity, and herds have been known to disappear from areas almost as quickly as they're discovered there. Numbers are declining because of habitat loss and fragmentation as the Gran Chaco is converted into large, Texas-style cattle ranches, and hunting continues alongside an unidentified disease that has affected herds in recent years. Conservation efforts include a population maintained in North American and European zoos, along with preserves established in Paraguay, though those preserves are not strongly enforced.