The effects of deforestation on wildlife along the transamazon highway

Hunting, although prohibited, is widely practiced by the rural inhabitants settled along the Transamazon highway. In 1997 and 2000, we investigated subsistence hunting in Uruará, a township located on an Amazonian pioneer front (Brazil). We analyze hunting practices, game yield, hunting efficiency and their relation to forest coverage rate. The hunting methods were stand hunting (55.5%) and beating (44.5%). Paca (Agouti paca), tatus (Dasypus novemcinctus and D. septemcinctus), and collared peccary (Pecari tajacu) were the most frequently hunted species, supplying 68% of the gross game weight. Beating was significantly more efficient than stand hunting (3 vs. 1.9 kg/hunter/h, Mann–Whitney U test, P=0.02). Hunting territories were classified in three categories according to forest coverage rate. The higher the forest coverage rate the larger was the harvested species and the more efficient the hunter (Kruskal–Wallis test P=0.01). Considering the ecological and demographic changes in this pioneer settlement, development of a viable plan for game management and forest preservation is of great importance.