Ethnoecology, Resource Use, Conservation And Development In A ...

areas on higher ground. Parrots and toucans are both found in riparian forest and
bush islands on the savannah, and also hunted in these habitats.
Table 4.5. Percentage of Maruranau hunters interviewed to report hunting of particular
categories of game animal.
English name Latin name Percentage of hunters
interviewed reporting hunting
Laba Agouti paca 86
‘Hogs’ Tayassu tajacu/T. pecari 86
Birds Aves 86
‘Accouri’ Dasyprocta agouti 73
Armadillo Dasypus/Cabassous 56
Powis Crax alector 52
Macaw Ara spp. 52
Tapir Tapirus terrestris 43
Marudi Penelope spp. 39
Parrots Pionus spp./Amazona spp. 34
Toucan Ramphastos spp. 34
Ducks Dendrocygna viduata/Cairina moschata 21
Savannah deer Odocoileus virginanus 17
Bush deer Mazama americana 8
Worakobra Psophia crepitans 4
Among mammals, only eight Wapishana categories, encompassing up to twelve
biological species, were mentioned. The peccary species (Tayassu tajacu and T.
pecari, reported as a single category in interviews) and Agouti paca were the most
commonly mentioned categories, followed by the orange-rumped agouti and then
armadillos, which in addition to C. unicinctus, also includes two species of Dasypus (D.
kappleri and D. novemcinctus) and perhaps also Priodontes maximus, although the
latter is very rarely encountered and unlikely to have been uppermost in the minds of
interviewees. Tapirs were mentioned by less than half of the interviewees, probably
because this species is the subject of wide-ranging customary prohibitions (see
chapter 5.3), such that large numbers of households include at least one person
unable to consume its meat. In fact, this result may somewhat overstate the level of
hunting upon tapirs, as another method suggested a very low kill rate for this species.
The low score for brocket deer is perhaps unexpected. Mazama gouazoubira is not
commonly hunted or eaten, again as a result of customary prohibitions, but the same
does not hold for M. americana, which other sources indicated to be a popular food
(see below). One suggestion is that encounters with M. americana, more than any