902 R. Pillco Huarcaya et al.
FIG. 1 Location of transect used in a camera-trap survey of medium-sized and large mammals in Sira Communal Reserve, Peru, and deforestation in the region during 2000–2014 (Hansen et al., 2013).
(e.g. Jiménez et al., 2010; Beirne et al., 2017), and we present the first camera-trap survey of the mammalian community of the Cerros del Sira. We used 45 terrestrial camera traps over 2 years along a previously unstudied elevational gradi- ent, with the aim of laying a foundation for future research, monitoring and conservation planning efforts in one of the last intact forest landscapes in the central region of the Peruvian Amazon.
Study area
The Sira Communal Reserve is situated between the Ucayali River to the east and the Pachitea River to the west. It is the largest community reserve in Peru, forming part of the Oxapampa–Asháninka–Yánesha Biosphere Reserve, located in the departments of Pasco, Huánuco and Ucayali, with an area of 616,413 ha and a buffer area of 1,032,340 ha (INRENA, 2001). The core protected area encompasses the Cerros del Sira Mountains, and the surrounding buffer area comprises a local human population of ethnic groups of Ashaninka, Asheninka, Shipibo-Conibo and Yanesha, and rural communities of Andean migrants (Benavides et al., 2006). Our study transect is to the east of Puerto Inca, in the province of Huánuco (Fig. 1), along a previously un- studied ridgeline on the north-western border of the Sira Communal Reserve. The transect covers both lower and upper montane forests, and elfin forest towards the highest elevations. Mean annual precipitation is c. 3,000 mm in the montane forest and up to 6,000mmon the peaks (2,220 m). The remoteness of the area has attracted illegal extractive industries, including coca cultivation (for cocaine produc- tion), gold mining, poaching and logging. The construction of roads since 2004 has attracted the private sector, with tim- ber and agricultural corporations replacingmany of the local
cattle farmers. Mining and oil concessions now cover almost the entire area (Finer et al., 2016;Novoa et al., 2016).
Methods
Camera traps (Trophy Cam, Bushnell, Overland Park, USA) were deployed in mid to late March and removed at the beginning of September (dry season) in 2015 and 2016. Cameras were placed 40 cm above the ground, and all low vegetation within 3 m was cleared to standardize detection probabilities. Cameras were programmed to record a 14 s video, with intervals of 30 s between successive triggers (Meek et al., 2014; Beirne et al., 2017). Of the 21 cameras de- ployed in 2015, 19 were set to monitor medium-sized and large vertebrates (including the Critically Endangered Sira curassow Pauxi koepckeae; Beirne et al., 2017) and two were placed at the entry point to the ridgeline (865meleva- tion) and at our principal campsite (900 m), to monitor hunting activity. Thirteen cameras were placed at elevation- al intervals of 50 m between 800 and 1,400 m, four were placed at intervals of 100 m between 1,500 and 1,800 m and two were placed at water sources (a clay lick at 1,056 m and a stream at 1,215 m). In 2016, 22 camera traps were placed at elevational intervals of 50 m between 950 and 1,920 m to monitor the vertebrate community, and two were placed at the same water source locations used in 2015. As people were also detected by the wildlife cameras along the ridgeline in 2015, camera traps were not set specif- ically to target hunting activity in 2016. The camera-trap rate was calculated for every given species as the number of videos/100 camera-trap days. Non-independent events, defined as videos of the same species at the same location within 30 minutes of a previous detection, were excluded from the calculation.
Oryx, 2020, 54(6), 901–908 © 2019 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605318001096
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