Inter-annual prey fluctuation of Odocoileus virginianus in Maya group hunting (batida) in the Yucatan Peninsula

Abstract

In Neotropical environments, we know little about the abun-dance of wild vertebrates traditionally hunted.Based on subsistencehunting records (2005-2019) as well as ethnographic information from Mayapeasant-hunters, we assessed the inter-annual capture rate of white-taileddeer (Odocoileus virginianus) in a rural community in the northwest of theYucatan Peninsula. We found that the number of prey decreased over theyears, showing a declining capture rate (prey/trip) that decreased by as muchas 50% from the first (2005-2006) to the third period (2010-2011) of records.The majority of peasant-hunters interviewed (74%; N = 31) perceived thisreduction in deer to have taken place mainly over the past 10 years asconsequence of hunting (71%). The agreement between the hunting trendand peasants’ perceptions regarding the abundance of white-tailed deersuggests that this species may be at risk in future scenarios of use innorthwest of contemporary Mayab.