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

these differed in each case. Another interviewee said that worms were eaten when
fruit was not available. Eight interviewees who considered the relationship with seeds
all agreed that it was predatory. Nine interviewees mentioned crop-raiding by this
species: for cassava according to all, yams according to eight, eddoes according to
two and sweet potatoes to one.
All eight interviewees talking about activity patterns agreed them to be diurnal.
Ten interviewees identified holes as resting places: eight of these specified that these
could be holes in rotten tree trunks or in the ground. Three interviewees added that
the burrows used were those dug by the Maroro, Priodontes maximus, which one
interviewee consequently described as the 'brother-in-law' of the collared peccary.
Eight interviewees talked about litter sizes: five of these said two young were born at
a time. Of the others, one said 1-2, another 2-4, and another 6, 'like pigs'. Of eight
comments on the timing of birth, six were to the effect that there was no particular
breeding season, while each of the two who contradicted this suggested a different
time of year to be the breeding season.
Two interviewees pointed out that abuya are found throughout the forest -
according to one, mostly in the farm area - and absent on the savannah, although
another said that they occasionally make temporary excursions onto the savannah.
Four interviewees mentioned their use of swamps, in two cases adding that feeding
may take place in this habitat type. Predators mentioned were jaguar, Panthera onca
(nine times), puma, Puma concolor (four times), land camoudi (Constrictor
constrictor) (twice) and bushmaster (Lachesis muta) (once). Three interviewees also
described interspecific interactions with the larger congener Tayassu pecari, from
which abuya is said to flee.
6.3.2 White-lipped peccary, ‘kairooni’.
Several categories of food items were listed: fruit was mentioned by fourteen of the
fifteen interviewees, seeds by twelve, worms by nine, snakes by eleven and tubers by
two. Several interviewees named the fruits or seeds of specific tree species as being
of particular importance in the diet: pokoridi (Attalea regia) in three cases - one of
whom mentioned that seeds are broken open in order to get a grub which is found
inside - iziari (Manilkara bidentata) and daba (Peltogyne sp.) each in two cases, and
tokoro (Licania spp.) and naata (Hymenaea oblongata) seeds once each.
Earthworms and bushmaster were each mentioned once in this context. Seven
interviewees considered there to be a food shortage during dry season, while two
others contradicted this, one arguing that their broad diet and exceedingly high