Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology
University of Kent
Comparison of hunting practices and impact on wildlife
populations between indigenous communities in the
Peruvian Amazon
By Nejm Benessaiah
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Batchelor of
Science in Biodiversity Conservation and Management
2007
Comparison of hunting practices and impact on wildlife populations
between indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon
Hunting camp in the Peruvian Amazon
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Acknowledgements
I firstly thank Dr. Richard Bodmer for approving me after constant badgering to do undertake a
study more suited to an MSc level, and for careful guidance in supervision.
I thank Pablo Puertas immensely for his knowledge, insight and encouragement during the field
work. I am indebted to Claudia Rios for all her efforts in assisting me, translating, helping with
interviews and organising reams of data.
I thank the Manuel Vela Collantes and the Matses community, and especially Samuel Rodriguez
who put up with my presence on the hunt of a collared peccary. Finally, I thank Claudio
Guttierez who made me feel welcome in his home, and all the residents of Nueva Esperanza.
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Contents
Acknowledgements.................................................................................................................iii
List of figures………………………………………………………………………………….vi
List of tables…………………………………………………………………………………..vii
Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………….viii
Introduction……………………………………………………………...…………………….1
Methods………………………………………………………………………………………...4

Study site:……………………………………………………………………………………..4

Ribereno/Yagua site…………………………………………………………………………..4

Matses community site………………………………………………………………………..5

Hunting registers………………………………………………………………………………7

Semi-structured interviews……………………………………………………………………8

Participatory mapping…………………………………………………………………………9

Estimator of relative abundance……………………………………………………………….9

Estimators of sustainability…………………………………………………………………....9

Statistical analysis……………………………………………………………………………10
Results………………………………………………………………………………………….11
Part 1: Comparison between ribereno/ Yagua communities………………………………...11

1.1: Catch per unit effort (CPUE) analysis…………………………………………………..11

1.2: Non-preferred species…………………………………………………………………...16
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
1.3: Biomass harvest…………………………………………………………………………19

1.4: Participatory mapping…………………………………………………………………...21

1.5: Interview analysis……………………………………………………………………….25
Part 2: Measures of sustainability for the ribereno/Yagua community of Esperanza……..30

2.1: Stock recruitment model………………………………………………………………...30

2.2: Harvest model…………………………………………………………………………...32
 2.3: Unified harvest model…………………………………………………………………..34
Discussion……………………………………………………………………………………..40

Comparison of the relative abundance of hunted species between communities…………....40

Analysis of the sustainability of harvest of valuable species in the Mirin…………………...44

Recommendations…………………………………………………………………………....45

Indigenous peoples as natural resource managers…………………………………………...46
Bibliography………………………………………………………………………………….50
Appendices

Appendix I: Example of hunting register………………………………………………..55

Appendix II: Sample interview sheet……………………………………………………56

Appendix III: Participatory mapping…………………………………………………….58

Appendix IV: Species list………………………………………………………………..59
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List of figures

Figure 1: Harvest corrected per 100km2 for 1 year for ribereno/Yagua and Matses.

Figure 2: Figure 2. Mean effort in hunter-days for ribereno/Yagua and Matses.

Figure 3: Figure 3. Relative abundance of all species hunted using CPUE as a function of
local hunting effort for all species in ribereno and Matses communities.

Figure 4: Figure 4.Relative abundance of animals using CPUE as function of hunting effort
for preferred species in Matses and Ribereno communities.

Figure 5: Figure 5. CPUE as function of hunting effort for non preferred mammals in Matses
and Ribereno communities.

Figure 6: Figure 6. CPUE as function of hunting effort for bird species in Matses (Galvez)
and Ribereno (Mirin) communities.

Figure 7: CPUE as function of hunting effort for turtles in Matses and Ribereno
communities.

Figure 8. Comparison of biomass harvested in the ribereno/Yagua and Matses communities
in Kg per 100 square metre for 1 year.

Figure 9. Animals. Eaten the most in terms of proportion of answers.

Figure 10. Species perceived to be most abundant.

Figure 11. Species perceived to be declining.

Figure 12. Harvest model for economically valuable species, the ungulates in the Mirin
region.

Figure 13. Comparison of animals harvested per square kilometre between 1997 and 2004.
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
Figure 14. Figure 14: Number of peccaries hunted between 1996 and 2003 in the Yavari Miri
(Esperanza).

Figure 15. Unified harvest model for the red brocket deer.

Figure 16. Unified harvest model for the collared peccary.

Figure 17. Unified harvest model for the white-lipped peccary.

Figure 18. Unified harvest model for the lowland tapir.

Figure 19. Unified harvest model for the woolly monkey.
List of tables

Table 1: Table 1. Harvest corrected to individuals per square kilometre for ribereno/Yagua
and Matses communities.

Table 2. Overall biomass harvest for Matses (Galvez) and ribereno (Mirin) communities over
1 year.

Table 3. Most abundant game sources around the village of Esperanza.

Table 4. Most abundant game sources around the Matses villages.

Table 5. Answers of most hunted species for ribereno/Yagua and Matses communities.

Table 6. Animals eaten the most in terms of proportion of answer.

Table 7. Species perceived to be most abundant/ in decline.

Table 8. Stock recruitment model for the hunting of species around the village of Esperanza
only.
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Abstract
Rural people in Amazonia largely depend on natural resources for livelihoods. Participatory
management is an optimal strategy to achieve the sustainable use of wild resources. Hunting
practices and effort were compared between two Amazonian communities, one indigenous
Matses, the other made up of indigenous Yagua and ribereño/mestizos. Methods to analyse
included the use of hunting registers, participatory mapping and semi-structured interviews. The
Matses encountered more animals overall, indicating a greater abundance of game species.
Yagua/ribereño hunters were shown to spend more time on average hunting, which many
indicate lower densities of game near villages. Analysis of maps showed catch per unit effort to
be negatively correlated with distance from the village, however. Data from the Yagua/ribereño
community was further analysed for evidence of sustainability of harvest of game species.
Harvest of collared peccary (Tayassu pecari) and lowland tapir (Tapirus terrestris) is deemed
risky/safe. Harvest of red brocket deer (Mazama Americana), white-lipped peccary (Tayassu
tajacu) and woolly monkey (Lagothrix lagothricha) appear sustainable. It is recommended that
harvest levels be decreased or ceased completely to allow T. peccari and T. terrestris populations
to recover. Harvest of M. Americana, T. tajacu and L. lagothricha can be carried on at current
levels. It is not recommended to increase levels of harvest of L. lagothricha primate species have
slow rates of reproduction and increase (rmax). Indigenous may make good natural resource
managers.
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