Nota Científica

 

New records of tayra (Eira barbara Linnaeus 1758) in Puebla, Central Mexico

 

Nuevos registros de tayra (Eira barbara Linnaeus 1758) en Puebla, centro de México

 

Ramírez Bravo, O. E.

 

Departamento de Ciencias Químico-Biológicas, Universidad de las Américas, Puebla, Santa Catarina Mártir sin número, Cholula, Puebla, México. Durrell Institute for Conservation Ecology, Marlowe Building, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7NR, England <ermex02@yahoo.com>

 

Recibido: 04/04/2011
Aceptado: 20/06/2011

 

RESUMEN

En la siguiente nota se presentan dos nuevos reportes de tayra (Eira barbara) obtenidos en la Sierra Norte de Puebla.

 

The tayra (Eira barbara Linnaeus 1758) is considered as one of the carnivore species least studied in North and Central America (López González & Aceves Lara 2007). Its distribution extends from Mexico to Argentina but, in some countries its distributions is not defined. In Mexico it is considered as endangered (NOM-059-2010, SEMARNAT. 2010) despite it has been reported in several states in the west in Sinaloa (Hall 1981) and in the east in states such as Veracruz (Presley 2000, Dias 2005), San Luis Potosí (Dalquest 1953), Tamaulipas (Hall 1981) and Querétaro (López González & Aceves Lara 2007). For Puebla, it was reported without geographical reference by Lopez-Wilchis and Lopez-Jardines (1999) however most of the museum records date before 1970 (Wieczorek 2001). A sight record of the species was obtained in the southeastern part of the state in the locality of Coxcatlán de Osorio (Ramírez-Pulido et al. 2005). There are no further records of the species, thus, it´s presence wasn´t confirmed recently in the Sierra Norte. Here, we report a recent record of Tayra and image of this species for the first time in the state of Puebla.

We obtained the picture while conducting camera trapping for the project "The Jaguar in Puebla: Presence and Human Relations" in the Natural Protected Area of the Hidrologic Basin of the Necaxa River. The study area is located in northern Puebla, encompassing an area of 5,709.82 km² which include 55 municipalities. The methodology includes interviews with hunters and tanneries in different communities. Also, camera trapping is used by placing one or two camera traps per site and rotating them every month along the different areas (Ramírez-Bravo 2010). The picture was taken by a Camera trap (Bushnell Trophy; Kansas, United States) set during the month of June 2010 at a height of 40 -50 cm along a trail in a canyon with tropical rainforest with mahogany and red cedar among others and patches of coffee plantations, beside the Necaxa River near the community of Telolotla in the municipality of Zihuateutla (UTM coordinates: 2230864 N / 598387 E). A photographic record of an adult male tayra (Eira barbara) as it can be determined by the exposed testicles; was obtained at 19:48 hours on June 26 of 2010 near a cliff ridge at 480 m elevation (Fig. 1). This corresponds with the patterns observed previously of the species being present below 1200 m and active in the late afternoon (Presley 2000). During the same season we captured other species like armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus), raccoon (Procyon lotor) and coati (Nasua narica).

Additionally we found a specimen (a mounted skin) in the region of Zapotitlan de Mendez (2212264 N / 634494) in the northern part of the state. The individual was a sub-adult female hunted approximately 5 years ago (circa 2005). The person declared that the species is common in the area and that he mounted a male approximately 20 years ago (circa 1990).

These records indicate the possibility of an extant population along the Northern Mountainous range of Puebla. However there is no clear information about connectivity with populations in nearby states (Fig. 2). Thus, it is necessary to develop a specific project for the species in the area as it is necessary to provide a more detailed distribution of the species along the Sierra Norte.

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank to Panthera Foundation who supported us with a grant for the project: "The Jaguar in the state of Puebla, Central Mexico: Presence, Conservation and Human Relations", to the Universidad de las Americas for the facilities provided, ANP Cuenca Río Necaxa, and the private reserve Kolijke for all its support.

 

REFERENCES

Dallquest, W. W. 1953. Mammals of the Mexican state of San Luis Potosi. Louisiana State University Studies, Biological Series, 1: 1–229.         [ Links ]

Dias, P. A. D. 2005. Observations of parturition in the Mexican mantled howler monkeys (Allouatta palliata) in the island of Agaltepec, Veracruz state, Mexico. American. Journal of Primatology, 65: 93-98.         [ Links ]

Hall, E. R. 1981. The mammals of North America. 2nd edition. Volume 2. John Wiley & Sons, New York.         [ Links ]

López-González, C. A. & D. R. Aceves Lara. 2007. Noteworthy record of the Tayra (Carnivora: Mustelidae: Eira barbara) in the Sierra Gorda biosphere reserve, Querétaro, México. Western North American Naturalist, 67: 150-151.         [ Links ]

López-Wilchis, R. & J. López Jardines. 1998. Los mamíferos de México depositados en colecciones de Estados Unidos y Canadá. Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Unidad Iztapalapa, 323 pp.         [ Links ]

Presley, S. J. 2000. Eira barbara. Mammalian Species, 636: 1-6.         [ Links ]

Ramírez-Bravo, O. E. 2010. El Jaguar en Puebla: presencia, distribución, relación con el hombre y conservación. 2º. Reporte Octubre 2009-Octubre 2010. Universidad de las Américas. University of Kent. National Geographic. Panthera. 68p.         [ Links ]

Ramírez Pulido J., N. González-Ruiz & H. H. Genoways. 2005. Carnivores from the Mexican state of Puebla: distribution, taxonomy and conservation. Mastozoología Neotropical, 12: 37-52.         [ Links ]

Wieczorek J. 2001. Mammal Network Information System (MaNIS). University of California, Berkeley. http://manisnet.org/manis/index.html (consulted: March11, 2011).         [ Links ]