Camera trapping and mammals 905


FIG. 3 Elevational distribution of mammal species recorded by camera traps along the survey transect in Sira Communal Reserve (Fig. 1). Cameras placed on trails and at specific habitat features are represented by triangles, mean elevation of detections is represented by filled circles, and maximum and minimum elevation records are represented by vertical lines.


Rafael Pilares, pers. comm.). It has been suggested that the elevation range of these two species in Peru and Bolivia does not overlap anywhere within a single mountain slope, and overlaps only slightly at c. 900 m throughout the Cordillera Oriental (Servheen et al., 1999). The closest known previous records of the bear to our study area are from the Pachitea Basin, determined by interviews conducted with the inhabitants of the Sira Communal Reserve, and from products derived from bears avaialable for sale in the local markets of Puerto Inca, El Sira and Llullapichis (Figueroa, 2016; Hurtado et al., 2016). Compared to the range of the spectacled bear documented on the IUCN distribution map for the species (Velez-Liendo & García-Rangel, 2017), our photographic records together with those of Figueroa (2016) and Hurtado et al. (2016) in- dicate an eastwards extension of c. 100 km. If the bear is dis- tributed throughout the high elevations of the Sira range this could represent an increase in its known habitat of up to 540,000 ha, enough habitat for c. 325 adult individuals, based on previous density estimates from other locations (Kattan et al., 2004; Ríos-Uzeda et al., 2007). As various in- dividual spectacled bears were recorded on several occasions and in different locations, these are unlikely to be records of vagrant individuals. Another threatened species of note is the oncilla, one of


the smallest cats and least known Neotropical mammals (Tortato & Oliveira, 2005; Hurtado et al., 2016). A search


of the literature and museum databases (Hurtado et al., 2016) yielded only 10 records from the past 100 years, of which only three were since 2001, all within the montane forest of the Peruvian Yungas region (Hurtado et al., 2016). Based on the current IUCN distribution map for this species, our records are c. 60 km west of the known range (Payan & Oliveira, 2016). Other large-bodied species of note detected that require


large intact habitats include the lowland tapir and the giant anteater, suggesting a high degree of ecological integrity within the core Sira Reserve. The presence of many small, rare and cryptic species, including the margay, the short- eared dog and the pacarana, further underlines the impor- tance of the Reserve in sustaining species of conservation significance (Bickford et al., 2007). The Peruvian woolly monkey is a key species for seed dispersal, supporting car- bon stores and maintaining ecosystem viability (Bello et al., 2015; Estrada et al., 2017); it is also a favoured target for hun- ters, as we discovered, and is susceptible to local extirpation (Peres, 2000). In addition to the direct evidence of hunting in the


Reserve recorded by the camera traps, informal interviews with members of local communities living within the buffer zone confirmed the disappearance of key bushmeat species in nearby lowland areas (in particular the Peruvian woolly monkey, the black-faced spider monkey Ateles chamek and the white-lipped peccary Tayassu pecari). This loss


Oryx, 2020, 54(6), 901–908 © 2019 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605318001096


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