Conservation implications of commercial hunting of black and spectacled caiman in the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve, Brazil Original Research Article

During the annual dry season, illegal hunting of black and spectacled caiman in the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve in western Brazilian Amazon is widespreadPeres and Carkeek, 1993. Hunting occurs throughout the reserve, but is particularly intense in the northern Panauã region, where it provides the primary source of income for local residents during the dry season. While hunting prior to 1970 was principally to obtain caiman skins for sale, hunting today is entirely for the sale of caiman meat. People in the region do not eat the meat themselves, but after salting sell it to buyers who mix it with fish and in turn sell it in Pará state, Brazil, and in Colombia. Preliminary information suggests that the annual harvest is approximately 115 metric tons of fresh caiman meat, which would represent a harvest of 5230 black caiman and 2865 spectacled caiman. Despite this illegal hunting, the population of black caiman has one of the highest reported densities for Amazonia. The impact of hunting on wild populations may be reduced because the hunters take mostly adult and subadult males, from relatively accessible parts of the reserve. Hunting in the Mamirauá reserve illustrates that a sustained harvest of caiman populations may be possible under the right conditions.