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Diet and habitat associations of bush dogs Speothos venaticus in the Interior Atlantic Forest of eastern Paraguay

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 January 2005

Gerald L. Zuercher ,
Philip S. Gipson  and
Osvaldo Carrillo
Gerald L. Zuercher
Affiliation:
Current address: Department of Natural and Applied Sciences, 310 Goldthorp Hall, University of Dubuque, Dubuque, IA 52001, USA Kansas Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, 205 Leasure Hall, Division of Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA
Philip S. Gipson
Affiliation:
Kansas Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, 205 Leasure Hall, Division of Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA
Osvaldo Carrillo
Affiliation:
Fundación Moisés Bertoni, Prócer Carlos Argüello 208, e/Mcal. Lopez y Boggiani, Asunción, Paraguay
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Abstract

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The diet and habitat associations of bush dogs Speothos venaticus, categorized as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, are virtually unknown in the wild. In eastern Paraguay, bush dogs occur in the Reserva Natural del Bosque Mbaracayú. The Reserve contains one of the largest remaining fragments of the Interior Atlantic Forest in Paraguay as well as cerrado and grassland habitats. We analysed bush dog faeces to determine their diet. Bush dogs in the Reserve mostly ate vertebrates. Although small mammals (marsupials and rodents) were the most numerically dominant foods, agoutis Dasyprocta azarae and pacas Cuniculus paca represented 90.5% of biomass consumed. Cecropia fruit was also present in the diet. This is the first documentation of fruit consumption by bush dogs. Signs of bush dogs were detected in all habitats, with the greatest proportion in high forest.

Keywords

Bush dogdiethabitatInterior Atlantic ForestParaguaySpeothos venaticus
Type
Short Communication
Information
Oryx , Volume 39 , Issue 1 , January 2005 , pp. 86 - 89
Copyright
© 2005 Fauna & Flora International