Diet of the European Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) in a Protected Area of Argentina

BALLARI, SEBASTIAN A.; NAVARRO, JOAQUÍN L. ; OJEDA, RICARDO A.

Mar del Plata

Conferencia; 2nd World Conference on Biological Invasions and Ecosystem Functioning; 2011

Grupo de Investigación y Educación en Temas Ambientales (GrIETA)

The European wild boar (Sus scrofa) is an omnivorous mammal with a wide ecological plasticity whose diet varies greatly between different habitats and geographical regions. The wild boar was introduced in Argentina in the early twentieth century for hunting, and the first records in the National Park El Palmar (Entre Rios) was 1975. This National Park has 84 km2 preserved many native plant and animal species of great conservation significance. During the 2009-2010 season, were collected samples of stomach contents of 36 specimens hunted as part of a Control Plan of Exotic Mammals in order to evaluate the diet of wild boar in a protected area. This study presents an overview of the diet composition of wild boar, where 79% of total vegetable matter and corresponded to the 21% animal matter. The most vegetables itemscommonly consumed were fruit (21%), especially the yatay palm (Syagrus yatay) and leaves (19%), while the most animal items consumed were birds (19%), especially the order Columbiformes. Within the plant material, corn accounted for almost 34%. This item is incorporated by man to the ecosystem in order to bait hunting sites. On average, corn was the most selected item during the warmer months, where the rest of the plant matter and animal matter was consumed rarely This paper presents unpublished results of diet for the region, exhibiting values ​​of consumption of animal matter that double or triple to records from the United States and Spain.