|
This is the Tagua (Chacoan Peccary), the largest and most specialized of the peccaries, weighing in at about 100 pounds (45 kilograms). It was not recognized as a living species until 1974. The scientists believed that this species became extinct 15.000 years ago, but in 1972 the zoologist Ralph Wetzel, rediscovered this species in the Gran Chaco area of Paraguay.
|
The Chacoan peccary looks a lot like a big, hairy pig. It grunts and snorts like a pig. Yet while the peccary shares a common ancestry with the pig, the two animals are very different, both anatomically and genetically. He feasts on tubers, roots, cactus pads and fruit and flowers (sometimes snacking on small invertebrates such as snails). You would likely find the Chacoan peccary in small groups of three to seven males and females. They are considered endangered, where they are threatened by a loss of natural habitat due to development, and are also hunted as a food source.
|
|
Most of the land is covered by
Black Palms or "Caranday" from which young hearts of palms are
extracted. The trunk of the trees are used for the
construction of electrical poles. In a census, an agricultural engineer estimated a count of 5 million Caranday trees. Back |
