Use and knowledge of the razor-billed curassow pauxi tuberosa (spix, 1825) (galliformes, cracidae) by a riverine community of the oriental amazonia, brazil

Animals have long been used by humans for the most diverse purposes. In the last decade, however, the different ways in which the faunistic resources are used by traditional human cultures have become a significant subject of investigation in Brazil [1-10] and other countries [11-14], due to their overall importance to conservation issues. Some important uses include: food, zootherapy, pet rearing (xerimbabismo), ornamentation, manufacturing of domestic tools and magic-religious symbolism [15,3,7,20]. To a significant part of the Brazilian population, and in particular to the Amazonian riverine communities, animal resources represent an important source of protein and traditional medicine, since these populations are isolated and thus depend primarily on the natural resources obtained directly from the forest. Hunting is the most common strategy used by the Amazonian riverines to obtain animal resources and several studies have been discussing the various aspects of this practice, namely its inventory, characterization [8] and impact on the animal populations [4,5,21,22], as well as other related subjects [10]. The aim of the present study was to describe the hunting activities and the uses and knowledge of the local fauna by a riverine community of the Oriental Amazonia.In Amazonia, the most hunted bird species are those from the Cracidae family [11-13,23]. Cracidae birds occur exclusively in the American continent, from Mexico to Argentina [12]. The family includes fifty large bird species that inhabit tropical and subtropical forests, with few species being found in open areas [24]. It is the most threatened bird family of the Americas, mostly due to habitat destruction and hunting [25,26]. The majority of the targeted species have life history traits incompatible with intensive hunting: they are monogamous and only rear one brood of one to three eggs per year. Hatchlings suffer high mortality for the first year of life and only reach maturity after the third yea