Biodiversity
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Collared peccary
Pecari tajacu | Linnaeus, 1758
Characteristics: Species measuring about 90/95cm in length and standing 30/40 cm tall. It has black and white bristles, with a grayish-brown shade. Its flanks are covered by "dirty yellow" bristles and it has a kind of "white collar" running from its chest to its back and withers.
Distribution: From Southern Mexico to Northern Argentina and Southern Brazil, disappearing in a few areas due to deforestation and hunting.
Habitat: Savanna fields, savanna woodland, savanna, forests, secondary forests, and low grounds near streams.
Habits: Species active during the day, at dusk, and at night. It is usually seen in small groups of up to 50 individuals in open or forest areas, crossing through forests on long walks and looking for places offering more supplies. Group cohesion is maintained through vocalizations and olfactory signals coming from glands, hence their habit of rubbing on each other, on trees, and on rocks.
Diet: Frugivorous/herbivorous, feeding on corn, "coco-jerivá" fruit, sapucaia nuts or nut trees.
Breeding: The gestation period is 145 days, and 1-4 pups are born.
In the UFRA area: The collared peccary was restricted to native forests. In all the surveys carried out at the São Francisco Sugarmill farms, this species of mammal was seen only once and is considered rare.