Mysterious Disappearances of a Large Mammal in Neotropical Forests

The drivers of periodic population cycling by some animal species in northern systems remain unresolved[1][1]. Mysterious disappearances of populations of the Neotropical, herdforming white-lipped peccary ( Tayassu pecari , henceforth “WLP”) have been anecdotally documented and explained as local events resulting from migratory movements or overhunting[2][2],[3][3],[4][4], or as disease outbreaks[5][5],[6][6], and have not been considered in the context of large-scale species-specific population dynamics. Here we present evidence that WLP disappearances represent troughs in population cycles that occur with regular periodicity and are synchronized at regional and perhaps continent-wide spatial scales. Analysis of 43 disappearance events and 88 years of commercial and subsistence harvesting data reveals boom – bust population cycles lasting from 20 to 30 years, in which a rapid population crash occurring over 1 to 5 years is followed by a period of absence of 7 to12 years and then a slow growth phase. Overhunting alone cannot explain the crashes, but as in northern systems dispersal during the growth phase appears to play a key role. This is the first documentation of population cycling in a tropical vertebrate.### Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest. [1]: #ref-1 [2]: #ref-2 [3]: #ref-3 [4]: #ref-4 [5]: #ref-5 [6]: #ref-6