Abstract

MONTES PEREZ, Rubén C; MORA CAMACHO, Odeisi  and  MUKUL YERVES, José M. Forage intake of the collared peccary (Pecari tajacu). Rev Colom Cienc Pecua [online]. 2012, vol.25, n.4, pp.586-591. ISSN 0120-0690.

Objective: to evaluate voluntary intake of four forage species by collared peccary (Pecari tajacu) under confinement. Methods: four peccaries underwent a consumption test to assess their preference among four forages (Leucaena leucocephala, Guazuma ulmifolia, Brosimum alicastrum and Pennisetum purpureum). The experiment was divided into two phases. The first consisted of an adaptation period of 4 days during which they were offered 1 kg of each forage in different feeders for 4 hours, then removing and weighing the remaining forage to determine consumption. The voluntary intake test was assessed in the second phase using a Latin square design (4x4). Forage intake was analyzed using the Statgraphics 5.1 software. Results: highly significant differences (p <0.01) between consumption of each forage were observed, being G. ulmifolia the most consumed (170.18 g dry matter), followed by L. leucocephala, and B. alicastrum (132.19 and 98.37 g dry matter, respectively). The least consumed was P. purpureum (21.65 g dry matter). Conclusions: considering its high consumption and moisture content, G. ulmifolia could be successfully used as cut fodder for peccaries under confinement.

Keywords : confinement; native fodder; peccaries; voluntary intake.

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