Home range of Caiman latirostris (Crocodylia, Alligatoridae) in the Pampas of Argentina

PORTELINHA, T.C.; VERDADE, L.M.; LARRIERA, A.; PIÑA, C.I.

Lake Charles - Louisiana

Congreso; 23rd Working Meeting of the Crocodile Specialist Group (CSG/SSC/IUCN); 2014

Crocodile Specialist Group (CSG/SSC/IUCN)

Ranching programs are developed for Caiman latirostris in Argentina. These programs are based on eggs collection and release of a fraction of the hatchlings in the wild after one year of captive rearing. However, information about the behavior of reintroduced animals such as home range and habitat use are still missing. In this study we aimed at determining the home range of wild and reintroduced females in Santa Fe province, Argentina. Field work was c arried out in a protected area with a natural stream and lagoon (30º11?26?S 61º0?27?W) between December/2010 and April/2012. We monitored eight adult females (four wild and four reintroduced) with radio transmitters (VHF, GPS and UHF). Monitoring period ranged from 19 days to 455 days. Home range was estimated by Minimum Convex Polygon (MCP) and Kernel 95% (K95) methods. Mean females home range (MCP and K95, respectively) was 98 ±91.2 ha (14-268 ha) and 39.7 ±35.3 ha (1-89 ha). There was no difference between wild and reintroduced females home range (MCP: 60-268 ha and 14-142 ha respectively; K95: 21-49 ha and 1-89 ha, respectively). However, reintroduced females predominantly used the lagoon, whereas wild females used both water bodies indistinctively. Such difference in habitat use apparently resulted in differences between MCP and K95 values for wild females. The present results suggest that reintroduced females have similar home range as wild ones, but with distinct habitat use.