Assessment of the rarity and conservation status of the Colombian endemic brown hairy dwarf porcupine Coendou vestitus

Abstract

The brown hairy dwarf porcupine Coendou vestitus is a poorly studied Andean species endemic to Colombia. Its current Red List category is contradictory: globally it is categorized as Data Deficient but in Colombia it is categorized as Vulnerable. This contradiction has limited the implementation of conservation programmes. We evaluate the level of rarity of the species and provide consolidated information for a new assessment of its Red List status. We reviewed literature, photographs, and voucher specimens in natural history collections. Using the confirmed records, we estimated the extent of occurrence (EOO) based on the minimum convex polygon and the area of occupancy (AOO) summing the area of grid squares occupied by the species. We found that C. vestitus is very rare, with a small range, low estimated population density, occurrence in only one habitat type and small body size. The species has an EOO of 3,323 km2 and an AOO of 24 km2, based on six confirmed localities, all on the western slopes of the Eastern Cordillera, in the central Andean region of Colombia. Based on the species' rarity, restricted distribution, and threats to its natural habitat, we recommend its categorization as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. This will help delineate research and conservation efforts for this porcupine, which has a highly restricted range and inhabits the threatened Andean forest.

Filling distribution gaps: first record of the Western Amazonian Dwarf Porcupine, Coendou ichillus Voss & Da Silva, 2001 (Mammalia, Rodentia), in the Napo Moist Forests ecoregion of Colombia

“…Based only on AOO, this species might be Endangered (Least Concern based only on EOO); however, severe fragmentation or continuing declines and extreme fluctuations are unknown. The estimation of the EOO and AOO for little-known species of Coendou such as C. vestitus has recently helped clarify their Red List categories (Torres-Martínez et al 2020), and it is a useful tool for first approach to the risk assessment of rare mammal species. (Voss and Da Silva 2001;Ramírez-Chaves et al 2016;Menezes et al 2020).…”

New records of mammals of the Coffee Region, Central Andes of Colombia using citizen science

“…Furthermore, we obtained photo-vouchers and videos donated by local people and CHEC staff taken at the study area between 2014 and 2019 pre-and post-workshops. We used the photographs to complete the information on the mammal species of the study area, a technique that has been also implemented in other studies to obtain additional data on mammals from Colombia (Ramírez-Chaves et al 2020a, 2020bTorres-Martínez et al 2020).…”

Nuevos registros y observaciones sobre la historia natural del puercoespín pardo, Coendou vestitus (Rodentia: Erethizontidae)

“…Las localidades de registro (Emmons & Feer, 1997;Voss & da Silva, 2001;Alberico & Moreno, 2006;Barthelmess, 2016;Cortés-Suárez, 2020) se encuentran inmersas en bosques andinos y subandinos, que se caracterizan por presentar una vegetación de bosque húmedo montano bajo. La especie era conocida hasta ahora de solo siete localidades, dos de ellas en el departamento de Boyacá (Ramírez-Chaves et al, 2019;Cortés-Suárez, 2020) y las restantes en el departamento de Cundinamarca (Voss & da Silva, 2001;Ramírez-Chaves et al, 2019;Torres-Martínez et al, 2020).…”

“…Coendou vestitus es uno de los puercoespines menos estudiados, con escasa información sobre su distribución, ecología e historia natural, y su estado de conservación resulta confuso (Ramírez-Chaves et al, 2019;Torres-Martínez et al,2020). Su categoría de amenaza nacional es Vulnerable (VU; Alberico & Moreno, 2006; Ministerio del Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible, 2017), mientras que a nivel global se encuentra incluida en la categoría Datos Insuficientes (DD; https://www.iucnredlist.org/es/species/20633/22213528).…”

“…Su categoría de amenaza nacional es Vulnerable (VU; Alberico & Moreno, 2006; Ministerio del Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible, 2017), mientras que a nivel global se encuentra incluida en la categoría Datos Insuficientes (DD; https://www.iucnredlist.org/es/species/20633/22213528). Sin embargo, recientemente se ha sugerido que, debido a su distribución restringida, baja densidad poblacional y rareza, la especie tiene justificación para ser reasignada a la categoría En Peligro (EN;Torres-Martínez et al, 2020). Por ello, la obtención de nuevos datos que contribuyan al conocimiento de esta especie es indispensable para llenar vacíos de información y servir de base para estudios sobre su estado de conservación.…”