Camera traps as a tool for Carnivore conservation in a mosaic of Protected Areas in the Pantanal wetlands, Brazil

Abstract

Although known globally for its biodiversity, only around 5% of the Brazilian Pantanal is protected. The Network for Protection and Conservation of Amolar Mountain Ridge is an informal initiative that legally protects over 2000 km 2 of the Pantanal biome. Several camera-trapping surveys were carried out at Amolar Mountain Ridge from August 2011 to September 2013 in order to increase our knowledge of the species occurrence and its ecological requirements. The aims of this study were : 1) to inventory the carnivore species occurring within this network of protected areas; 2) to describe their activity patterns and 3) to discuss threats for those species' conservation in the region. We used the Kernel density method to describe the species' activity patterns. We obtained 764 records (from 12703 camera-days) of eight carnivores, including endangered species in Brazil, such as the jaguar (Panthera onca), puma (Puma concolor), and ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), that were among the most frequently recorded by camera traps. The other species detected were the South America coati (Nasua nasua), the tayra (Eira barbara), the crab-eating raccoon (Procyon cancrivorus) and the jaguarundi (Puma yagouaroundi). We provided information on activity patterns of the jaguar and puma, which exhibited cathemeral activity patterns, on the ocelot and crab-eating fox, which were mostly nocturnal, and on the Southern coati and jaguarundi, which were diurnal. Scansorial and species that occur naturally in low densities as the tayra and the crab-eating raccoon were difficult to be detected with the used camera trapping setting. However, due to the natural characteristics of the study area, camera trapping is among the most appropriate tools for providing data about carnivores and their prey. This information is essential to delineate conservation plans for Amolar Mountain Ridge.

Medium- And Large-Sized Mammals at the Urucum Massif in the Brazilian Pantanal: Camera Trap as an Effective Sampling Method to Estimate Species Richness, Relative Abundance, and Activity Patterns

“…Some subtle differences were observed in relation to D. tajacu (crepuscular in this study), which was mostly diurnal in Bolivian Amazon (Gómez et al 2005), and cathemeral in other areas of the Pantanal (Porfirio et al 2017b). Dasyprocta azarae and N. nasua are diurnal, as observed in other areas of the Pantanal and Bolivian Amazon (Gómez et al 2005, Porfirio et al 2017b, Porfirio et al 2018), while T. tetradactyla was nocturnal, as observed in the humid Chaco of Argentina (Huck et al 2017). Euphractus sexcinctus and D. novemcinctus are diurnal and nocturnal, respectively, which confirmed activity patterns found in other sites of the Pantanal and Cerrado (Maccarini et al 2015.…”