| dc.description.abstract | This dissertation analyzes indigenous wildlife use from a geographic perspective,
focusing on the relationships between hunting, habitat, and settlement patterns. Fieldwork
took place among five neighboring communities in the Rio Caloveborita watershed in
western Panama over one year. The methodology included ethnographic research, mapping
land cover and house sites, and participatory research whereby trained local investigators
conducted a census, facilitated community mapping sessions, and administered weekly
hunting activity questionnaires among 59 households. During their interviews with hunters,
local investigators drew sketch maps showing the location of game kill sites, which were
later plotted onto topographic sheets and entered into a Geographic Information System for
analysis.
The research shows that Bugle hunting is a predominantly male activity practiced
exclusively for subsistence. The primary technologies used are firearms, rock-fall traps,
hunting dogs, the bow and arrow, and slingshots. Roughly 2,500 animals were caught over a
period of eight months, with a total yield of 2,580 kg within a hunting zone of 131 km2.
Hunters captured well over 100 different species, but just five mammals account for over
half of the total yield (Agouti paca, Dasyprocta punctata, Dasypus novemcinctus, Tayassu
tajacu, and Alouatta palliata). Nearly half of all game (by weight) was encountered in
agricultural areas. Six taxa caught primarily in anthropogenic habitats are classified as
"garden game" while six others caught primarily or exclusively in mature rain forest are
classified as "deep forest game." The spatial distribution of the 1,278 game kill sites that
were documented shows a striking concentration around the study area villages. All of the
principal species, with the exception of primates, are caught close to settlements, indicating
that little game depletion has occurred. Indeed, approximately 90 percent of all game was
caught within two kilometers of a hunter's house, showing that while the hunting zone may
be large, much of it is used lightly. I argue that conditions are ideal for the coexistence of
indigenous communities and wildlife in the Caloveborita region and that anthropogenic
habitats resulting from shifting cultivation likely provide critical foraging opportunities for
certain species when foods in mature rain forest are scarce. | |
