Hostname: page-component-7dd5485656-j7khd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-10-30T02:00:07.459Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Assessment of temperament traits of white-lipped (Tayassu pecari) and collared peccaries (Pecari tajacu) during handling in a farmed environment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 January 2023

SSC Nogueira ,
JF Macêdo ,
AC Sant’Anna ,
SLG Nogueira-Filho  and
MJR Paranhos da Costa
SSC Nogueira*
Affiliation:
Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Rodovia Jorge Amado km 16 Ilhéus, Bahia, Brazil Laboratório de Etologia Aplicada, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz-UESC, Ilhéus, Bahia, Brazil
JF Macêdo
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Etologia Aplicada, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz-UESC, Ilhéus, Bahia, Brazil
AC Sant’Anna
Affiliation:
ETCO Group, Departamento de Zootecnia, FCAV-UNESP, Jaboticabal-SP, Brazil
SLG Nogueira-Filho
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Etologia Aplicada, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz-UESC, Ilhéus, Bahia, Brazil
MJR Paranhos da Costa
Affiliation:
ETCO Group, Departamento de Zootecnia, FCAV-UNESP, Jaboticabal-SP, Brazil
*
* Contact for correspondence and requests for reprints: selene.nogueira@pq.cnpq.br
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

White-lipped (Tayassu pecari) and collared (Pecari tajacu) peccaries can be farmed as an alternative to subsistence hunting in Neotropical countries. The animals often show high reactivity to handling, usually involving capture with a net, which is a cause for concern because it poses risks to both animals’ and keepers’ welfare. We aimed to assess the temperament of both peccary species, evaluating animals’ reactions during handling, providing an emotional indicator and a new animal selection criterion for peccary farms. Three indicators were used to assess the temperament of 17 white-lipped and 19 collared peccaries: qualitative behaviour assessment (QBA, by using 12 behavioural adjectives); time to drive each animal through a corridor into a chute (TD, s); and flight speed (FS, m s−1). A Principal Components Analysis was performed for the QBA data to define a temperament index (TI). White-lipped peccaries showed TI scores associated with worse temperament traits than collared peccaries. White-lipped peccaries showed higher TD and FS means than collared peccaries. We found a correlation between TD and FS, but not between TD and TI, nor between FS and TI. The lack of correlation between all temperament indicators occurred, probably, because they measure different aspects of peccaries’ reactions toward humans and the farm environment during handling. A wide phenotypic variability was found among individuals within both species’ populations. The results provide an opportunity to address the role of temperament assessment, improving handling procedures and exploring the possibility of including temperament as a selection criterion in captive breeding programmes.

Keywords

animal welfaredomesticationhandlingpeccaryreactivitywildlife farming

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 24 , Issue 3 , August 2015 , pp. 291 - 298
Copyright
© 2015 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Beck, H, Thebpanya, P and Filiaggi, M 2010 Do neotropical peccary species (Tayassuidae) function as ecosystem engineers for anurans? Journal of Tropical Ecology 26: 407–414. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0266467410000106CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bodmer, R, Puertas, P, Antunez, M, Fang, T and Gil, G 2012 Impacts of climate change on wildlife conservation in the Saimiria River Basin of the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, Peru. Report p37. http://opwall.com/wp-content/uploads/Samiria-2011-Report.pdfGoogle Scholar
Burrow, HM 1997 Measurements of temperament and their relationships with performance traits of beef cattle. Animal Breeding Abstracts 65: 477–495Google Scholar
Burrow, HM, Seifert, GW and Corbet, NJ 1988 A new technique for measuring temperament in cattle. Proceedings of ASAP 17: 154–157Google Scholar
Byers, JA and Beckoff, M 1981 Social spacing and cooperative behavior of the collared peccary, Tayassu tajacu. Journal of Mammalogy 62: 767–785. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1380598CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Curley, KO Jr, Paschal, JC, Welsh, TH Jr and Randel, RD 2006 Technical note: Exit velocity as a measure of cattle tempera-ment is repeatable and associated with serum concentration of cortisol in Brahman bulls. Journal of Animal Science 84: 3100–3103CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
D’Eath, RB, Roehe, R, Turner, SP, Ison, SH, Farish, M, Jack, MC and Lawrence, AB 2009 Genetics of animal temperament: aggressive behaviour at mixing is genetically associated with the response to handling in pigs. Animal 3: 1544–1554. http://dx.d oi.org/10.1017/S1751731109990528CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dingemanse, NJ, Van der Plas, F, Wright, J, Reale, D, Schrama, M, Roff, DA, Van der Zee, E and Barber, I 2009 Individual experience and evolutionary history of predation affect expression of heritable variation in fish personality and morphol-ogy. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B276: 1285-1293. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2008.1555CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dubost, G 2001 Comparison of the social behaviour of sympatric peccary species (genus Tayassu) correlation with their ecological characteristics. Mammalian Biology 66: 65–83Google Scholar
Estrella, MUP, Hernandez, V, Flores, JP and Sanchez, MMV 2011 Plan de manejo tipo para pecari de collar ( Pecari tajacu) manejo intensivo. Secretaria de Medio Ambiente, Recursos Naturales y Pesca, Direccion General de Vida Silvestre, Mexico. www.semarnat.gob.mx/archivosante-riores/temas/gestionambiental/vidasilvestre/Documents/Planes%20de%Manejo/PMT_Pecari%20tajacu_Manejo%Intensivo.pdfGoogle Scholar
Garcia, GW, Young, GM, Amour, KM, James, D, Lallo, CHO, Mollineau, W, Roopchand, A, Gannessingh, N, Spencer, M, Prosper, MA, Rooplal, R, Nathai-Gyan, N, Steil, A, Xande, A, Bemelmans, A, Nogueira-Filho, SLG, Guimaraes, D, Galvez, H and Mayor Aparicion, P 2005 The collared peccary Tayassu tajacu Booklet and Producers’ Manual, First Edition. GWG Publications: Trinidad and TobagoGoogle Scholar
Gosling, S 2001 From mice to men: what can we learn about per-sonality from animal research. Psychological Bulletin 127: 45–86. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.127.1.45CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keuroghlian, A, Desbiez, A, Reyna-Hurtado, R, Altrichter, M, Beck, H, Taber, A and Fragoso, JMV 2013 Tayassu pecari. IUCN 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.1. www.iucnredlist.orgGoogle Scholar
Kilgour, RJ, Melville, GJ and Greenwood, PL 2006 Individual differences in the reaction of beef cattle to situations involving social isolation, close proximity of humans, restraint and novelty. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 99: 21–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2005.09.012CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Le Pendu, Y, Guimarães, DAA and Linhares, A 2011 Estado da arte sobre a criação comercial da fauna silvestre brasileira. Revista Brasileira de Zootecnia 40: 52–59. [Title translation: The state of the art on Brazilian farmed wildlife]Google Scholar
MacKay, JR, Turner, SP, Hyslop, J, Deag, JM and Haskell, MJ 2013 Short-term temperament tests in beef cattle relate to long-term measures of behavior recorded in the home pen. Journal of Animal Science 91: 4917–4924. http://dx.doi.org/10.2527/jas.2012-5473CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Malmkvist, J and Hansen, SW 2001 The welfare of farmed mink (Mustela vison) in relation to behavioural selection: a review. Animal Welfare 10: 41–52Google Scholar
Manly, JFM and Dias, CTS 2008 Métodos Estatísticos Multivariados: uma Introdução. Bookman: Porto Alegre, Brazil. [Title translation: Multivariate statistical methods and introduction]Google Scholar
Müller, R and von Keyserlingk, MAG 2006 Consistency of flight speed and its correlation to productivity and to personality in Bos taurus beef cattle. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 99: 193–204. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2005.05.012CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Napolitano, F, De Rosa, G, Braghieri, A, Grasso, F, Bordi, A and Wemelsfelder, F 2008 The qualitative assessment of responsiveness to environmental challenge in horses and ponies. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 109: 342–354. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2007.03.009CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Napolitano, F, De Rosa, G, Grasso, F and Wemelsfelder, F 2012 Qualitative behaviour assessment of dairy buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis). Applied Animal Behaviour Science 141: 91–100. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2012.08.002CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nogueira, SSC and Nogueira-Filho, SLG 2011 Wildlife farming: an alternative to unsustainable hunting and deforestation in Neotropical Forest? Biodiversity Conservation 20: 1385–1397. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10531-011-0047-7CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nogueira, SSC, Calazans, SG, Costa, TSO, Peregrino, H and Nogueira-Filho, SLG 2011a Effects of varying feed provision on behavioral patterns of farmed collared peccary (Mammalia, Tayassuidae). Applied Animal Behaviour Science 132:193–199. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2011.04.002CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nogueira, SSC, Soledade, JP, Pompéia, S and Nogueira-Filho, SLG 2011b The effect of environmental enrichment on play behaviour in white-lipped peccaries (Tayassu pecari). Animal Welfare 20: 505–514CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nogueira-Filho, SLG and Lavorenti, A 1997 O manejo de cai-titus (Tayassu tajacu) e queixadas (Tayassu pecari). In: Valladares-Pádua, C, Bodmer, R and Culllen, L Jr (eds) Manejo e Conservação de Vida Silvestre no Brasil pp 106–115, Mamirauá/CNPq: Belém, Brazil.[Title translation: Handling and conservation of wildlife in Brazil]Google Scholar
Nogueira-Filho, SLG, Nogueira, SSC and Sato, T 1999 A estrutura social de Pecaris (Mammalia, Tayassuidae) em cativeiro. Revista de Etologia 1: 89–98. [Title translation: The social structure of captive peccary]Google Scholar
Nogueira-Filho, SLG and Nogueira, SSC 2004 Captive bree-ding programs as an alternative for wildlife conservation in Brazil. In: Kirsten, SM, Fragoso, JMV and Bodmer, R (eds) People in Nature: Wildlife Management and Conservation in Latin America pp 171–190. Columbia University Press: New York-USACrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nogueira-Filho, SLG, Santos, DO, Mendes, A and Nogueira, SSC 2006 Developing diets to collared peccary (Tayassu tajacu) from locally available food resources in Bahia, Brazil. Revista Eletronica Manejo de Fauna Silvestre en Latino America 1: 1–6Google Scholar
Pajor, EA, Rushen, J and de Passillé, AMB 2000 Aversion learning techniques to evaluate dairy cattle handling practices. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 69: 89–102. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0168-1591(00)00119-2CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Petherick, JC, Holroyd, RG, Doogan, VJ and Venus, BK 2002 Productivity, carcass and meat quality of lot-fed Bos indicus cross steers grouped according to temperament. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 42: 389–398. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/EA01084CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Price, EO 1984 Behavioral aspects of animal domestication. Quarterly Review Biology 59: 1–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/413673CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Price, EO 1999 Behavioral development in animals undergoing domestication. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 65: 245–271. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0168-1591(99)00087-8CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rousing, T and Wemelsfelder, F 2006 Qualitative assessment of social behaviour of dairy cows housed in loose housing sys-tems. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 101: 40–53. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2005.12.009CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sant’Anna, AC and Paranhos da Costa, MJR 2013 Validity and feasibility of qualitative behavior assessment for the evaluation of Nellore cattle temperament. Livestock Science 157: 254–262. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2013.08.004CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sant’Anna, AC, Paranhos da Costa, MJR, Baldi, FS and Albuqerque, LG 2013 Genetic variability for temperament indi-cators of Nellore cattle. Journal of Animal Science 91: 3532–3537. http://dx.doi.org/10.2527/jas.2012-5979CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sowls, LK 1997 Javelinas and Other Peccaries: Their Biology, Management and Use. Texas A&M University Press: Texas, USAGoogle Scholar
Stamps, JA and Groothuis, TGG 2010 Developmental per-spectives on personality: implications for ecological and evolution-ary studies of individual differences. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B365: 4029-4041. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2010.0218CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stockman, CA, McGilchrist, P, Collins, T, Barnes, AL, Miller, D, Wickham, SL, Greenwood, PL, Café, LM, Blache, D, Wemelsfelder, F and Fleming, PA 2012 Qualitative behav-ioural assessment of Angus steers during pre-slaughter handling and relationship with temperament and physiological responses. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 142: 125–133. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2012.10.016CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Turner, SP and Lawrence, AB 2007 Relationship between maternal defensive aggression, fear of handling and other mater-nal care traits in beef cows. Livestock Science 106: 182–188. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2006.08.002CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Turner, SP, Navajas, EA, Hyslop, JJ, Ross, DW, Richardson, RI, Prieto, N, Bell, M, Jack, MC and Roehe, R 2011 Associations between response to handling and growth and meat quality in fre-quently handled Bos taurus beef cattle. Journal of Animal Science 89:4239–4248. http://dx.doi.org/10.2527/jas.2010-3790CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wemelsfelder, F 2001 The inside and outside aspects of con-sciousness: complementary approaches to the study of animal emotion. Animal Welfare 10: 129–139Google Scholar
Wemelsfelder, F, Hunter, EA, Mendl, MT and Lawrence, AB 2000 The spontaneous qualitative assessment of behavioural expressions in pigs: first explorations of a novel methodology for integrative animal welfare measurement. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 67: 193–215. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0168-1591(99)00093-3CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wickham, SL, Collins, T, Barnes, AL, Miller, DW, Beatty, DT, Stockman, C, Blache, F, Wemelsfeder, F and Fleming, PA 2012 Qualitative behavioral assessment of transport-naïve and transport habituated sheep. Journal of Animal Science 90: 4523–4535. http://dx.doi.org/10.2527/jas.2010-3451CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed