Inter-annual prey fluctuation of Odocoileus virginianus in Maya group hunting (batida) in the Yucatan Peninsula

Abstract

In Neotropical environments, we know little about the abundance of wild vertebrates traditionally hunted. Based on subsistence hunting records (2005-2019) as well as ethnographic information from Maya peasant-hunters, we assessed the inter-annual capture rate of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in a rural community in the northwest of the Yucatan Peninsula. We found that the number of prey decreased over the years, showing a declining capture rate (prey/trip) that decreased by as much as 50% from the first (2005-2006) to the third period (2010-2011) of records. The majority of peasant-hunters interviewed (74%; N = 31) perceived this reduction in deer to have taken place mainly over the past 10 years as consequence of hunting (71%). The agreement between the hunting trend and peasants’ perceptions regarding the abundance of white-tailed deer suggests that this species may be at risk in future scenarios of use in northwest of contemporary Mayab.

Keywords

• Subsistence hunting
• Maya batida
• Los Petenes Biosphere Reserve