Hunting and Monitoring: Community-Based Research in Xerente Indigenous Land, Brazilian Cerrado

Abstract

Community-based research that involves participatory monitoring has been increasingly used in studies on hunting activity in traditional societies of the Neotropics, particularly in the rainforest environment. We present the results from a year-long study of participatory monitoring of hunting in 10 villages in Xerente indigenous land in the Brazilian Cerrado, an initiative to build a sustainable-use program for local hunting. Fifty-two hunters recorded data on 390 hunts involving 451 kills and 5,878 kg of estimated biomass from 34 game species. Medium- and large-sized mammals were the most hunted species, while hunting activities were predominant in forest environments. Indigenous hunting techniques associated with collective hunts using fire are no longer used, and the use of traditional weapons such as the bow and arrow is now uncommon; firearms were the main weapon used. The data revealed current patterns of wildlife use as well as hunting activities. The implications of these results for future research on the management and conservation of wildlife hunting in Xerente indigenous land are presented. We present our findings to facilitate improved preparation of new monitoring programs in traditional societies that live in the Cerrado.