Ethogram and time-activity budget of the collared peccary (Pecari tajacu, Tayassuidae) : implications for husbandry and welfare.

Abstract

The collared peccary, Pecari tajacu, is a mammal in the family Tayassuidae from the Americas that occurs from the United States to north Argentina and throughout Brazil. They are very sociable animals, living in groups of six to nine individuals. In their natural habitat, they present diurnal habits, but in captivity, this behaviour may change due to management conditions. Despite being bred in captivity for both commercial and conservation purposes, little is known about their behavioural patterns. The aim of this study was to construct an ethogram and produce a time-activity budget for captive collared peccaries in order to suggest better practices for husbandry and welfare. Thirtynine captive-born peccaries were studied. The ethogram and timeactivity budget of the individuals were constructed using the ad libitum method, with data collection at different times between 08:00 and 12:00 and between 13:00 and 17:00. One hundred and seventy-nine hours of data were collected for each period (8:00–9:00; 9:00–10:00; 10:00–11:00, etc.). We identified 87 behaviours exhibited by the collared peccaries, most of them recorded in the afternoon, between 14:00 h and 15:00 h. Most of the time, the peccaries remained inactive. Three behaviours were recorded for the first time (playing in mud, weak biting and tasting). Inactivity of the collared peccaries increased with increasing temperature (rs = 0.261, p < 0.001), whereas active behavioural categories decreased with increasing temperature (rs = −0.179, p = 0.003). The high rate of inactivity may have been due to the influence of temperature, as on warmer days they remained more inactive than on colder days. No signs of low welfare were found based on the ethogram (no abnormal behaviours were observed). The ethogram and the time-activity budget created allow for more targeted husbandry procedures, such as actions that increase the activity of animals.