Research Article |
Corresponding author: Jonathan Pérez-Flores ( johnspf77@yahoo.com.mx ) Academic editor: Ana Maria Leal-Zanchet
© 2021 Jonathan Pérez-Flores, Sofía Mardero, Antonio López-Cen, Fernando M. Contreras-Moreno.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Pérez-Flores J, Mardero S, López-Cen A, Contreras-Moreno FM (2021) Human-wildlife conflicts and drought in the greater Calakmul Region, Mexico: implications for tapir conservation. Neotropical Biology and Conservation 16(4): 539-563. https://doi.org/10.3897/neotropical.16.e71032
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Wildlife conservation efforts in the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor have focused on reducing negative interactions between humans and charismatic species. In recent years, droughts have increased in frequency and intensity in southeastern Mexico exacerbating conflicts with wildlife as they compete with humans for limited water. In the Yucatan Peninsula, Greater Calakmul Region of southeastern Mexico, Baird’s tapirs (Tapirus bairdii) are increasingly encroaching into local villages (ejidos) in search of water. This behavior could increase tapir mortality from hunting by Calakmul ejidos residents. We evaluated the trends between annual precipitation and tapir sightings near or within Calakmul ejidos from 2008 to 2019 to determine if the frequency of reported conflicts increased relative to decreased precipitation. In addition, with community participation, from 2016 to 2018 we monitored one of the ejidos where human-tapir conflicts were reported to be increasing to better describe the nature of conflicts. We did not find any relationship between the number of tapir sightings reported and annual precipitation. However, more tapirs were documented near ejidos in 2019, which is one of the years with the lowest rainfall (626.6 mm) in the last decade. Tapirs were reported as the most common wildlife species observed at waterholes (35.4%) and apiaries (32.1%). Our findings suggested that water scarcity has increased tapirs’ incursions into human-populated areas and subsequently the potential for human-tapir conflicts. We recommend that managers consider developing alternative water sources that could mitigate human-tapir conflicts and contribute to the long-term viability of other wildlife species that inhabit the Greater Calakmul Region of southeastern Mexico.
Climate change, crop raiding, Tapirus bairdii, water scarcity, wildlife conservation, Yucatan Peninsula
The Mesoamerican Biological Corridor is a biodiversity hotspot and a natural land bridge that connects North and South America; it encompasses southern Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama (
Efforts and resources to manage human-wildlife conflicts (HWCs) in Mesoamerica and worldwide are inequitable, with charismatic species receiving the majority of economic resources for conservation (
In Mesoamerica, 36.2% of the population lives in rural areas and are dependent on subsistence agriculture (
In the center of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor resides the Greater Calakmul Region, which is part of the Selva Maya, the second largest area of tropical forests in the Americas (
In addition to landscape changes, recent droughts could exacerbate HWCs in the region (
Regional climate projections for the Yucatan Peninsula suggest the area will experience more extreme droughts (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Water available for wildlife consumption in Calakmul is stored in natural (called aguadas) and artificial (called jagüeyes) waterholes, and in small seasonal streams (Fig.
Different waterholes locally known as aguadas of the Calakmul region, Campeche, Mexico: A) aerial drone photography of a dry aguada of the ejido “Bel-ha” in 2019 B) aerial drone photography of a full aguada of the ejido “Nueva Vida” in 2019 C) a dry aguada of the ejido “Nuevo Becal” in 2017 and D) an aguada of the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve in 2019.
Large bodied species such as Baird’s tapirs (Tapirus bairdii; Fig.
The purpose of our study was to determine precipitation trends from 2008–2019 near Calakmul ejidos where increased tapir sightings have been recorded, as well as to identify potential areas of conflict between humans and tapirs under communal land management. Based on our research, we proposed strategies to mitigate water scarcity in the region and promote human-tapir coexistence in the Greater Calakmul region.
The Calakmul Region is located in the southeastern portion of the state of Campeche, Mexico (19°12'–17°48'N, 89°09'–90°28'W; Fig.
Location of the 14 villages (ejidos) where Baird’s tapirs (Tapirus bairdii) were sighted during 2008 to 2019 in the municipality of Calakmul, Campeche, Mexico. We deployed camera-traps only at ejido “Unión 20 de Junio” during the rainy seasons of 2016 to 2018 to document tapir activity and identify areas of potential conflicts.
To identify the potential areas of conflict between humans and tapirs, we select the ejido Unión 20 de Junio (U20J) because Pronatura Península de Yucatán A.C. has been collaborating on different projects with this community for 5 years, so we were aware of previous reports of tapir sightings in potential conflict areas, especially during droughts. Unión 20 de Junio (18°48'38"N, 89°16'59"W) is an ejido in the northeast portion of the municipality of Calakmul, Campeche that encompasses approximately 60 km2 and is inhabited by 449 people. The majority of its population is indigenous people from Chiapas (
From 2008 to date, we asked local residents, researchers, rangers, police and tourists about photographic records of tapirs sighted close or inside ejidos of the Calakmul region, in an area of approximately 8000 km2. For each record, we obtained the name of the person, coordinates of the place where the animal was observed, as well as the date and time of the last sighting. In most of the cases, tapirs were sighted and clinically assisted by the authors.
We used monthly data from the Zoh Laguna, Campeche meteorological station (located in the center of the municipality of Calakmul), available from the Comisión Nacional del Agua (CONAGUA) to analyze the annual precipitation from 2008 to 2019. We conducted a Mann-Kendall test to test for the presence of monotonic increasing or decreasing trend, and the Sen´s Slope Estimates for calculating the slope of the linear trend (
From 2016 to 2018, the NGO Pronatura Península de Yucatán, A.C. and local people of U20J operated a community-based wildlife monitoring program. The principal objectives of the monitoring program were to determine species richness, and to identify potential areas for HWCs. We placed camera traps in sites where people carried out productive activities (e.g., beekeeping, cultivation zones, areas where animals graze and drink water) and in sites where there was enough evidence that wildlife was passing by or causing some damages, especially tapirs. We used one camera model (Cuddeback Black Flash E3, Non-Typical Inc., Green Bay, WI, USA; www.cuddeback.com).
We placed camera traps in two jagüeyes (one per jagüey), two cultivation zones (one per cultivation zone) where people grow mainly corn, squash (Cucurbita spp.) and beans, and an apiary (one). Only five cameras were used as they could be stolen because many people pass through these sites. The cameras remained active 24 hours per day and were checked every 30 to 45 days, to change batteries and empty memory cards during the dry season (December to May) of each year (2016–2018).
The visitation frequency of each species at each site was defined as the mean number of visits (independent records) during the dry seasons of 2016–2018. We only considered independent records in the analyses to avoid under and overestimation. We considered one independent record as a single photograph of the species every 24 h. In cases where more than one individual was recorded on a photograph, the number of independent records was considered to be equal to the number of individuals observed on the same photograph (
We assessed annual precipitation behavior during two periods (1951–2019 and 2008–2019) using the Mann-Kendall test to test the presence of trends, and the Sen´s Slope Estimates to calculate the slope of the linear trend (for more details see
Since 2008, 26 tapir sightings were recorded by residents near or inside the ejidos. The years with the highest number of sightings were 2017 and 2019 with 4 and 13 sightings, respectively (Fig.
The average annual precipitation at Zoh Laguna station was 1007 mm. During the period 1951–2019, annual precipitation declined (Z = -2.97, p = .0029), decreasing around 375 mm on average, according to the Sen’s Slope Estimates (Fig.
During our study period (2008–2019), rainfall also showed a negative trend of up to 70 mm less rain in the last 12 years. However, these numbers should be taken with caution because the trend was not significant (Z = -0.34, p = 0.7338). Although the negative trend of precipitation in the last 12 years was not significant, in 8 of the 12 years of that period the precipitation was below the average in the area, with 2009 and 2019 having the highest precipitation deficit (60% and 62% below average, respectively). We also observed high interannual precipitation variability; for example, a difference of 500 mm between one year and the following, such as is the case of 2014–2015 period.
According to the Pearson’s product-moment correlation test, we did not detect a relationship between annual precipitation trends and annual tapirs sighted during our study period (2008–2019).
We monitored our five camera traps for 13,104 hours over 78 weeks during the dry season from 2016–2018 and documented 187 visits of 22 species visiting the two cultivated sites. The most frequent visitors to cultivated crops were the gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) 18.7% (n = 35) and Central American agouti (Dasyprocta punctata) 14.9% (n = 26) (Table
Species identified and visit frequency during the dry seasons of 2016 to 2018 for the three potential conflict areas (jagüey, apiary and crop) at ejido “Unión 20 de Junio”, Calakmul, Campeche, Mexico.
Camera trap records dry seasons of 2016 to 2018 | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mammal Species | Jagüey % (n) |
Apiary % (n) |
Crop % (n) |
Avian species | Jagüey % (n) |
Apiary % (n) |
Crop % (n) |
Bos taurus | 0 | 0 | 0.5 (1) | Aramides cajaneus | 1.1 (4) | 0 | 0 |
Canis lupus familiaris | 2.3 (8) | 0 | 0.5 (1) | Ardea herodias | 0.6 (2) | 0 | 0 |
Cuniculus paca | 6.9 (24) | 0 | 4.3 (8) | Buteo albicaudatus | 0.3 (1) | 0 | 0 |
Dasyprocta punctata | 1.4 (5) | 0 | 14.9 (26) | Buteo plagiatus | 0.3 (1) | 0 | 0 |
Didelphis virginiana | 1.1 (4) | 0 | 0.5 (1) | Buteogallus anthracinus | 1.4 (5) | 0 | 0 |
Herpailurus yagouaroundi | 0.3 (1) | 0 | 1 (2) | Buteogallus urubitinga | 1.4 (5) | 0 | 0 |
Homo sapiens | 2 (7) | 25 (7) | 4.8 (9) | Butorides virescens | 0.3 (1) | 0 | 0 |
Leopardus pardalis | 2.6 (9) | 10.7 (3) | 4.8 (9) | Cathartes aura | 1.7 (6) | 0 | 0 |
Leopardus wiedii | 1.1 (4) | 0 | 0.5 (1) | Coragyps atratus | 4.9 (17) | 0 | 0 |
Mazama sp | 1.7 (6) | 14.3 (4) | 11.8 (22) | Crax rubra | 2.6 (9) | 0 | 0 |
Nasua narica | 5.8 (20) | 10.7 (3) | 6.9 (13) | Crypturellus cinnamomeus | 0 | 3.6 (1) | 0 |
Odocoileus virginianus | 3.7 (13) | 0 | 2 (4) | Egretta caerulea | 0.3 (1) | 0 | 0 |
Panthera onca | 0 | 3.6 (1) | 1 (2) | Leptotila verreauxi | 1.4 (5) | 0 | 2 (4) |
Pecari tajacu | 0 | 0 | 3.2 (6) | Meleagris ocellata | 0 | 0 | 1 (2) |
Procyon lotor | 0 | 0 | 0.5 (1) | Micrastur semitorquatus | 1.4 (5) | 0 | 0 |
Puma concolor | 0.6 (2) | 0 | 0.5 (1) | Mycteria americana | 0.3 (1) | 0 | 0 |
Spilogale angustifrons | 0.3 (1) | 0 | 0 | Ortalis vetula | 2.6 (9) | 0 | 8.6 (16) |
Tapirus bairdii | 35.4 (123) | 32.1 (9) | 11.8 (22) | Patagioenas nigrirostris | 0.9 (3) | 0 | 0.5 (1) |
Urocyon cinereoargenteus | 6.3 (22) | 0 | 18.7 (35) | Ramphastos sulfuratus | 4.3 (15) | 0 | 0 |
Sarcoramphus papa | 0.3 (1) | 0 | 0 | ||||
Spizaetus ornatus | 0.3 (1) | 0 | 0 | ||||
Spizaetus tyrannus | 0.3 (1) | 0 | 0 | ||||
Tigrisoma mexicanum | 1.4 (5) | 0 | 0 |
Crop raiding species identified with camera traps during the dry seasons at ejido“Unión 20 de Junio”, Calakmul, Campeche, Mexico: A) Baird’s tapir (Tapirus bairdii) B) white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) C) coati (Nasua narica) and D) armed villagers walking through cultivation zones.
Camera trap photographic records from an artificial waterhole (jagüey) at the ejido “Unión 20 de Junio”, Calakmul, Campeche, Mexico: A) Baird’s tapir at the beginning of the dry season (jagüey is almost full) B) probably the same tapir a month later, the water has started to decrease C) 23 days after picture B people with domestic animals visiting the jagüey and D) six days after picture C at the end of the dry season a tapir passes through the jagüey which is completely dry.
We designed our study to identify relationships between precipitation trends and tapir sightings in the communal forests in the Calakmul region of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula; however, our results did not detect a relationship between the number of tapir sightings and annual rainfall, although we observed a dramatic increase in tapir sightings during the dry season of 2019. We identified jagüeyes and apiaries as the areas with the highest potential for human-tapir conflicts due to the availability of water at these sites during the dry season. In addition, we documented that tapirs were not the main raiders of cultivated crops despite what people believed. Through our results we found that during the dry season tapirs will be forced to visit more frequently communal forests, which could precipitate negative events that lead to HTCs.
Our analyzes revealed reduced annual precipitation during 1951–2019, but especially since the 1990’s, coinciding with reports from the
During our study period (2008–2019) rainfall had not significantly decreased despite the widespread perception of the inhabitants and local media (
Another reason could be that, even if the total annual precipitation may not be decreasing significantly, recent studies (
Although we did not detect a statistical relationship in the Calakmul region between precipitation trends and tapir sightings, water scarcity has resulted in more tapir sightings near or within human settlements, and those tapirs sighted presented poor body condition and symptoms of dehydration. The number of sightings in the municipality of Calakmul have increased in the last five years. The highest recorded observations were associated with the intense and prolonged drought of 2019.
It has been previously documented that in Calakmul, white-lipped peccaries (Tayassu pecari) and tapirs increase or decrease their movements depending on water availability (
Sightings of Baird’s tapirs (Tapirus bairdii) in different ejidos of Calakmul, Campeche, Mexico: A) tapir searching for water in a jagüey B) tapir tied by local people who offered water in a bucket C) carcass of a tapir shot at the edge of a waterhole and D) female and offspring covered with mud as a consequence of water scarcity in waterholes.
Increasing conflicts between humans and wildlife is one of the main threats to the long-term survival of many species in the world (
Droughts are considered one of the principal factors for increasing HWCs in some developing countries in Africa and Asia (
Based on records obtained from local monitoring conducted at U20J, we identified potential areas that could increase human-tapir conflicts. Crop raiding is the most studied human-tapir conflict in Mesoamerica (
Similar to the studies of
In recent years, and as a consequence of droughts, (less water for agriculture and livestock) apiculture has gained popularity in several of Calakmul’s ejidos resulting in greater economic and ecological benefits. However, this activity could increase negative interactions between humans and tapirs, especially during the dry season when the highest honey production is reported (
Historically, natural waterholes (aguadas) have represented a fundamental resource for the survival of wildlife in Calakmul (
Even though road-kill is one of the main threats to tapir populations worldwide (
The installation of artificial troughs for wildlife has been a strategy used for many years in arid sites (
Installation of artificial troughs in different points of the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve (CBR), Campeche, Mexico: A) digging to install the artificial trough in the CBR B) filling them manually with water C) female Baird’s tapir (Tapirus bairdii) and calf recorded with camera trap drinking water from the trough in the CBR and D) jaguar (Panthera onca) recorded with camera trap drinking water on a different trough in the CBR.
Camera-traps were placed near the drinking troughs to record the species that visited them. Several species of cryptic mammals were recorded, including tapirs, which were frequently recorded during this last dry season (2019) (Fig.
Some ejidos have implemented lethal and non-lethal methods to mitigate HWC. Among the lethal methods are hunting with gunfire and dogs in aguadas and milpas, and poison (carbofuran and glyphosate on seeds or fruits) for birds and small mammals, methods that are extensively used in southeast Mexico (
Human-wildlife conflicts have not been recognized as one of the main threats to Baird’s tapir populations in Mesoamerica. Our proposal has a multidisciplinary vision, as the region of Calakmul has a wide diversity of customs and cultures.
We propose: Intensified surveillance in apiaries and milpas: this is the most successful method to reduce HWC, especially in species that fear humans (
For his invaluable help in the field, we thank C. López-Díaz. Special thanks to SEYBA AC, N. Arias-Domínguez, E. Hernández-Pérez, M. Álvaro-Méndez, J. Figueroa-Nahuath for sharing photographic material. We are very grateful to the authorities of Union 20 de Junio and authorities of the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve for their support in this research. Thanks to project 00092169 “Fortalecimiento del manejo del Sistema de Áreas Protegidas para mejorar la conservación de especies en riesgo y sus hábitats “, implemented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), executed by the National Commission of Protected Natural Areas and financed by the Global Environment Facility. Special thanks to the WWF's Project "Salvando al jaguar: embajador de América" for the contribution of data collected in the study area. The map was produced by H. Weissenberger. JPF was supported by a scholarship (361517) granted by the Mexican government through CONACYT.