03243nam a2200373 a 450000100080000000500110000800800410001910000200006024501010008026000470018130000140022850000180024252022910026065000170255165000110256865000180257965000120259765000130260965000150262265000300263765000130266765000190268065000180269965000130271765000100273065000120274065000110275265000160276365300110277965300170279065300350280765300150284265300120285718074682018-07-05       2000    bl uuuu  m   00u1 u    #d1 aCOUTINHO, M. E.  aPopulation ecology and the conservation and management of Caiman yacare in the Pantanal, Brazil.  aQueensland: University of Queenslandc2000  a272 p.il.  aPh.D. Thesis.  aThe Pantanal is one of the largest wetlands in the world (140,000 km2), with high conservation priority. It is located in the upper Paraguay river basin near the geographic centre of the South American continent. One of the features of the Pantanal is the abundance of Caiman yacare, distributed widely throughout the floodplain. Prior to 1967 there were no restrictions on the exploitation of wildlife in Brazil and the harvesting of caimans in the Pantanal was conducted at an industrial scale. In 1967, legislation passed by the Brazilian federal government prohibited the commercial harvest of caimans. Most of the people involved in the harvesting of caiman relied on that activity for their living, and the lack of alternative work and the high demand for skins in the international market led to the emergence of poaching and an illegal trade. Since 1990, management policy was redirected and, instead of adults, harvesting quotas of eggs from natural populations was allowed. The biological basis of such policy has not been evaluated and, currently, the use of caiman has been of little importance to promote socioeconomic development and habitat conservation in the Pantanal. The present study, which is part of a joint effort of Brazilian governmental and non-governmental institutions, further develops the biological knowledge required to improve the current management policy and aims to encourage wetland conservation and socioeconomic development through the sustainable use of caimans. In the introductory chapter, the basic ideas and concepts underlying the conservation and management of wildlife in both scientific and socioeconomic dimensions are summarized, and the scope and relevance of the project are identified. ... Overall, the data presented in this thesis offer the biological background upon which the management plan for caimans in the Pantanal can be restructured. Under the present water level regime, characterized by a long term high water level, there is every reason to support a further rearrangement the current policy, aimed at encouraging the incorporation of caimans as a formal means of production in the wetlands. The possible advantages are numerous when both biodiversity conservation and regional socioeconomic development are considered.  abiodiversity  aBrazil  aCaiman yacare  aecology  aPantanal  apopulation  asocioeconomic development  awildlife  aBiodiversidade  aConservação  aEcologia  aFauna  aJacaré  aManejo  aPopulação  aBrasil  aConservation  aDesenvolvimento socioeconomico  aManagement  aWetland