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. 2023 Jan 12;18(1):e0277629.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0277629. eCollection 2023.

Assessing the sustainability of yellow anaconda (Eunectes notaeus) harvest

Bruno F Camera  1 , Itxaso Quintana  2 , Christine Strüssmann  1 , Tomás Waller  3 , Mariano Barros  3 , Juan Draque  3 , Patrício A Micucci  3 , Everton B P Miranda  4
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Assessing the sustainability of yellow anaconda (Eunectes notaeus) harvest

Bruno F Camera et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Sustainable wildlife management is necessary to guarantee the viability of source populations; but it is rarely practiced in the tropics. The yellow anaconda (Eunectes notaeus) has long been harvested for its leather. Since 2002 its harvest has operated under a management program in northeastern Argentina, which relies on adaptive management practices, that limit the minimum body length permitted for harvesting, the number of active hunters and the length of hunting seasons. Here we investigated the effects of yellow anaconda harvest on its demography based on 2002-2019 data and show that exploitation levels are sustainable. The gradual reduction in annual hunting effort, due to a decrease in the number of hunters and hunting season duration, reduced the total number of anacondas harvested. Conversely, captures per unit effort increased across the study period. The body size of anacondas was not influenced by the harvesting, and more females than males were caught. We also found that a decrease in mean temperature positively influenced anaconda harvest and the capture of giant individuals. Because sustainable use is a powerful tool for conservation, and anacondas are widespread in South America, these discoveries are highly applicable to other species and regions.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. A hunter capturing an yellow anaconda (Eunectes notaeus) by hand in La Estrella marsh, northeastern Argentina.
Hunting is selective and undersized individuals can be released unharmed. Photo by Programa Curiyú.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Yellow anaconda (Eunectes notaeus) basking in the sun on the champa at La Estrella marsh, northeastern Argentina.
Photo by Programa Curiyú.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Yellow anacondas (Eunectes notaeus) harvested by the Programa Curiyú between 2002–2019 in northeastern Argentina.
Total annual captures and captures in the most productive month (in grey) are shown.
Fig 4
Fig 4. Smoothed trends of yellow anaconda (Eunectes notaeus) harvest parameters measured by the Programa Curiyú between 2002–2019 in northeastern Argentina.
The y-axis represents the smooth term and the EDF value, and the grey area indicates the 95% confidence interval obtained from the Generalized Additive Models (GAMs).
Fig 5
Fig 5. Effects of the explanatory variables on the parameters of the population of yellow anacondas (Eunectes notaeus) harvested by the Programa Curiyú between 2004–2019 in northeastern Argentina.
Models selected based on the lowest AIC values are shown. The grey area indicates the 95% confidence interval.
Fig 6
Fig 6. Capture rate (CPUE) in relation to mean temperature (ºC) for the most productive month (July) and for the rest of the hunting season.
The Gaussian regression for captured taxa (CPUE = 1.01–0.03*mean T ºC) is shown.
Fig 7
Fig 7. Different landscape characteristics at La Estrella marsh.
A) Navigable area, suitable for hunting yellow anacondas (Eunectes notaeus). B) Area of difficult access where yellow anacondas are not hunted. Photos by B. Camera.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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