Chacoan Peccary

EXTINCT TO ENDANGERED
Chacoan peccaries were once thought to be extinct, until the 1970s, when scientists found a small population. They are the largest of three species of peccary and the most endangered, with only about 3,000 left in the wild.

These animals are only found in the Gran Chaco, an arid region of Paraguay, Bolivia, and Argentina.

The Chacoan peccary looks like a pig with long bristly hair, but it is actually in a different family called Tayassuidae. These are the native “pigs” of the Americas, and actually only includes three living species. The Chacoan peccary is the largest of the three peccary species. Peccaries live in social groups, and may communicate with a variety of sounds. You can often hear the peccaries at the Zoo grunting.

Peccaries also communicate with scent glands, which are located on their back, with which they mark their territory. To cool off, peccaries seek shelter in the shade or wallow in mud holes. The population of Chacoan peccary is declining due to habitat loss and over-hunting. Although they are a protected species, there is not much enforcement of these laws, and hunting even occurs in national parks.