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OCR for page 263
Paca
Pacas (`Agouti parlay 2 are large, white-spotted, al-
most tailless rodents with the potential to become a
source of protein for the American tropics. Thev are
found in lowlands from Mexico to northern Argentina. | |
The meat is white and is considered the best of all
Latin American game meat. It is common in local
markets and restaurants. Tasting like a combination of pork and
chicken, it sells at higher prices than beef and is a regular item of diet
in some areas. In Costa Rica, pace is served on special occasions such
as weddings or baptisms. It has a higher fat content than the lean meat
of agoutis, rabbits, and chickens, and has no gamy taste.
Paca has promise as a microlivestock. In several countries, Belize
and Mexico for example, people already keep them in cages beside
their homes and fatten them on kitchen scraps. In Costa Rica, some
are bred on farms, under houses, and even in apartments. Research
on raising paces in captivity is under way at the Universidad Nacional
in Heredia, Costa Rica; at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
in Balboa, Panama (see page 1961; and at the Instituto de Astoria
Natural in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico. In Turrialba, Costa Rica, an
entrepreneur is already breeding and raising pace commercially.
While the pace has potential as a food source, many problems still
must be resolved before it can be recommended for mass rearing. If
solved, however, this species would become an attractive microlive-
stock.
~ The older generic names Cuniculus and Stictomys are also sometimes still used. There
are several common names. A widely used Spanish common name in Central America
is "tepezcuinte," while in English-speaking regions of Central America they are called
"give not" (because the meat is so good it is not shared with neighbors). In Panama,
they are called "conejo pintado," "lapa," "laba," and other names; in Venezuela, its
name is "lapa"; in Peru and Ecuador, "guagua."
2 There is a second species: the mountain pace (Agouti taczanowskii). It is a much less
likely candidate for microlivestock; it is rare, and has not been studied either in the
wild or in captivity. This chapter refers only to the lowland species.
263
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264
AREA OF POTENTIAL USE
MICROLIVESTOCK
The pace has potential for use throughout its vast geographical range
in Latin America.
APPEARANCE AND SIZE
In general appearance, paces are somewhat like giant guinea pigs.
The legs are short, the forefeet have four "fingers," and the hindfeet
have five small, hooflike "toes." The feet are partially webbed and
are adapted both for digging and for swimming. Pacas burrow with all
four feet as well as their teeth; even large roots are no obstacle.
Adults weigh ~14 kg, males being somewhat larger than females.
Although they may become bulbously fat, paces remain "one of the
fastest things on four feet." From a standing start, even a fat specimen
can jump at least 1 m off the ground. Pacas are also agile. However,
their skin's epidermal layer is thin and fragile, and large strips may be
ripped off as they rush headlong through spiky undergrowth. However,
such wounds heal astonishingly fast-frequently within days.
Pacas are chocolate brown in color. The head is somewhat lighter
in shade than the body, and the underparts are whitish or buff colored.
There are usually four longitudinal rows of white spots that may merge
into stripes along each side of the body. The fur is coarse, spiny, and
slippery, and has no underwool. Each hair is stiff, relatively sharp,
and very smooth, which makes paces extremely difficult for predators
to hang on to.
Parts of the cheekbones are enlarged, and the cheeks can open to
form special pouches. This is more developed in adult males than in
females-indeed, adults can be readily sexed by head shape. The
pouches are outside of the mouth and are fully haired. The animals
use them mainly to create a resonating chamber for their booming
bark and noisy tooth grinding. These enlarged cheeks push the large
bulging eyes toward the top of the skull. The eyes are suited for
nocturnal conditions, the senses of smell and hearing are uncannily
acute, and there is an array of long whiskers that is used when
maneuvering at night.
DISTRIBUTION
Lowland paces are found throughout most of Latin America from
east central Mexico to northern Paraguay, Argentina, and Minas Gerais,
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PACA
The pace's native range.
265
O-J
~ :
Brazil. This includes all of Central America and most of Colombia,
Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, and the Guianas. The animal has also been
introduced into Cuba.
STATUS
Burgeoning human populations are severely reducing many of Latin
America's native animal resources, and the pace is one of the most
persecuted. It has been exterminated within hunting range of virtually
all cities, towns, and villages.
Several governments, recognizing the pace's plight, have passed
laws prohibiting the hunting and marketing of its meat. Nevertheless,
people continue to take it, usually at night, using trail dogs and
headlights.
HABITAT AND ENVIRONMENT
Pacas thrive in a variety of tropical habitats but are most common
in forests, swamps, and partly cleared grazing lands. They inhabit
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266
MICROLIVESTOCK
most types of forests from deciduous woodland to rainforest. Usually,
they stay near streams or rivers, but they often live where there is no
permanent water. They are abundant only in little-disturbed forest
areas. Although preferring low, dense tree cover, paces sometimes
inhabit open rocky areas and farmland.
BIOLOGY
These herbivores feed mainly on fruits, young seedlings, and some
seeds. However, when fruits are scarce they may switch to browsing
leaves and roots. They probably sometimes eat large insects, and, on
rare occasion, may perhaps eat small vertebrates. Captive paces, like
many other "frugivores," seem to develop a protein deficiency and
will eagerly eat meat scraps on occasion.
The young are usually born singly after a gestation period of 146
days. There are probably 2 births a year. Females have an estrous
period that begins shortly after giving birth. If mating does not take
place at this time, the female becomes unreceptive until after the 3-
month (sometimes 4- to 6-month) lactation is over. The length of the
estrous cycle is 30 days.
During daylight hours, paces seclude themselves in brushy cover,
in or under fallen logs, or in extensive underground burrows. The
burrows, which may be several meters long, are dug in moist soil or
taken over from other animals; they are often in river banks, on slopes,
among tree roots, or under rocks. Usually, several exits are provided,
often being plugged with leaves as a disguise.
BEHAVIOR
In the wild, paces dig large holes and rummage about the forest
floor at night, gnawing on fruits. Pairs inhabit a defended area,
sometimes living together in the same burrow, sometimes not. Also,
they usually travel alone, following paths that lead to feeding grounds
and water. Individual home ranges are small (1-3 hectares).
Although paces are terrestrial, they enter water freely, they swim
well, they copulate in water, and, when alarmed, they generally attempt
to escape by swimming. They are also lively and playful; however,
they can be exceedingly obstinate. Sometimes fighting among them-
selves becomes very savage. When angered they growl, sometimes
noisily, and they can suddenly jump on aggressors, real or imagined,
delivering frightful wounds with their chisel-like front teeth thrust
forward like a spear.
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PACA
USES
267
As noted, pace meat is tasty and brings high prices in the markets.
It is considered a delicacy in fine restaurants and was served to Queen
Elizabeth during her October 1985 visit to Belize. In Mexico, paces,
like pigs, are usually boiled unskinned. Even the skin is then edible.
HUSBANDRY
If treated appropriately when young, paces become manageable.
They undergo "imprinting," a characteristic of most species that have
been domesticated. An imprinted pace becomes so tame that it seeks
out human company, follows people around like an amiable dog and,
"Domesticated" paces. (N. Smythe)
I: ~
__
_9
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MICROLIVESTOCK
if turned out of its cage, returns voluntarily. (To achieve this degree
of tameness it is necessary to remove the animal from its mother at
an early age.)
Although wild paces arecalmost entirely nocturnal, tame paces are
more active during daylight hours.
Young or partly grown paces are commonly exhibited in zoos. They
eat prodigious quantities of almost any vegetation and have been
called, "a good substitute for a large garbage pail." Diets can include
rolled oats, raw vegetables,~bananas, apples, and bread. They probably
need additional protein occasionally, and seem to appreciate some fat
in their diet.
ADVANTAGES
If husbandry can be developed, the clamor for pace meat throughout
tropical America would be a big economic incentive for farming these
animals. The excellence and wide acceptance of the meat is an
indication that pace farming would be taken up both in rural and urban
areas and by many levels of society.
LIMITATIONS
Pacas can harbor human diseases, including leishmaniasis and
Chagas' disease.
Apart from the project in Panama (see page 194), paces have bred
only sporadically in captivity, with few offspring surviving. However,
successes have been recorded in zoos in London, San Diego, and
Washington, D.C., and in a research project in Tuxtla Gutierrez,
Mexico. In Costa Rica, they are also reportedly breeding well, with a
survival rate of 90 percent since 1982, and 80 percent of the females
are reproducing.3
All adult paces can be aggressive and dangerous. Their powerful
incisors can inflict serious wounds. (They can even rip through planks.)
Intraspecific aggression is one of the most serious impediments to
captive breeding.
Unlike the capybara, the pace not only has a long gestation but
usually bears a single young. Thus, the output of a single breeding
female may be, at best, two offspring per year (at least this is the
expected production in the wild). This "slow" breeding is a limitation.
3 Information from Y. Matamoras H.
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PACA
269
In captivity, however, there is a possibility that it can be speeded Up.4
The fact that paces bond together in pairs is a limitation. If every
female has to be accompanied by a male, then many (otherwise
unnecessary) males have to be fed and maintained.
Male paces are considered difficult to keep as household pets because
they spray females (or human substitutes) with a mixture of urine and
glandular secretions. This can occur several times a day. In addition,
they have anal glands that produce a musky odor that some people
find objectionable.
RESEARCH AND CONSERVATION NEEDS
Although paces are common in some areas over the vast region from
Mexico to Argentina, they are little understood, even by zoologists.
In fact, most data concerning this animal have come from interviews
with local hunters. Intensive field work is needed to develop an
understanding of the pace's biology, status, and habitat requirements.
The popularity of pace meat makes it urgent to start this work as
well as to begin breeding paces on an organized basis. Such projects
would lay the groundwork for preserving the species.
Particular research needs concern the following:
· Age structure and reproductive performance
· Growth rates and feeding habits;
· Behavioral patterns in captivity;
· Nutritional requirements;
Meat quality;
Helminth and arthropod parasites;
and
· Role in transmitting or perpetuating diseases;
· Reproduction (such as external manifestations of estrus in females);
· Genetic variations that would allow the selection of animals adapted
to captivity and females that produce multiple offspring twins, triplets,
or more.
Ways must be found to introduce more than one female to each
male without inciting aggression.
4 Females show considerable individual variation: some breed readily, whereas others
remain stubbornly unreceptive to the males. Imprinted females seem to be less receptive
than wild ones, but they also resist less aggressively. Thus, tame paces are manageable
but difficult to breed; wild paces are unmanageable but easier to breed. Information
from N. Smythe.
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
pace meat
