Projecting the theoretical niche of a recently re-discovered population of feral Asian water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) in the North Rupununi wetlands, Guyana

ABSTRACT

We provide documentation of a population of feral domestic Asian water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) that has persisted in the wetlands of the North Rupununi Region of Guyana for more than 75 years. Historical records indicate that water buffalo were incidentally introduced to the Rupununi by the colonial administration of British Guiana. Personal observations, camera trap photos, and reports of opportunistic encounters populate our maximum-entropy model, which projects a total of 2,489 km² of suitable water buffalo habitat across the region, including 1,076 km² of the RAMSAR-nominated North Rupununi wetlands (~11% of total land area). Key informants indicate that populations appear to have slowly increased and expanded their range over the past 30 years but fall far below projections using even the lowest population densities at ecologically analogous sites published in peer-reviewed literature. We discuss potential ecological impacts of water buffalo persistence and inhibitors of population growth by drawing on case studies from ecologically analogous locations.

KEYWORDS:

• Bubalus bubalis
• ecological niche
• exotic species
• habitat suitability
• indigenous ecological knowledge (IEK)

Author Contributions

MH determined study design, designed data collection tools, co-facilitated implementation of camera-trap data collection, processed and maintained camera-trap and interview databases, informed statistical analysis, worked with the team to interpret results, and served as primary author and editor of manuscript. GP informed study design, co-facilitated implementation of camera-trap data collection, primary facilitator of semi-structured interviews, worked with the team to interpret results, and provided feedback to the draft manuscript. OA contributed to design and implementation of camera-trap data collection and reviewed the draft manuscript. DM informed design and implementation of the camera-trap survey and interviews and provided historical documents, insights, and context. BB contributed to design and implementation of camera-trap data analysis, running Maxent models, wrote portions of the methods and results sections pertaining to these models, produced of figures, worked with the team to interpret results, and contributed to writing and editing of the manuscript.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the participants in this study, especially Kenneth, Cecil, Beverly and Manuel Mandook, Fitzroy, Nadia, Rickford and Rawlings Batholomew, Tichie Roberts, Mary Ambrose, Simpson Moses, Valentine and Charles Roberts, Micah Davis, Melanie and Eddie McTurk, Mike Williams, Andrew Jackson, Lakeram Haynes, Cain Edwards, Tommy Kenyon, Alex Mendes, and Ashley Holland. We appreciate the permission to carry out this study provided by the Environmental Protection Agency Guyana, Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affairs, North Rupununi District Development Board, and Kanuku Mountains Community Representative Group. We are very grateful to John Blake and June Hardy for providing guidance along the way, as well as Karanambu Trust and Lodge, and the leadership and residents Yupukari, Quattata, Markanata, Kwaimatta, Massara, Yakarinta, Kwatamang, Annai, and Rewa villages for their overwhelming kindness, hospitality, generosity, cooperation, and support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Geolocation Information

Karanambu Ranch (N 3.750063°, W −59.309421°)

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Jacksonville Zoo & Gardens under the Guyana Conservation Initiative;