Home range and abundance of Crax globulosa (Wattled Curassow) in the Juruá River, Amazonas, Brazil

Crax globulosa is endemic to the Amazon basin, occurring in lowland forests in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. It is considered endangered because of its small population, which has been estimated to have suffered a rapid decline. Researches on its ecology are scarce, especially within Brazilian populations. In this work, we have estimated the home range of Crax globulosa and through censuses we’ve calculated the abundance of the species in the locality. The study was conducted on Juruá River, Carauari, Amazonas, Brazil. In the home range analysis we used the VHF radio-telemetry technique. The captured individuals were monitored for 13 months, from September 2014 to September 2015. For the home range calculation we used the 95% MPC and 95% Fixed Kernel estimators. For the estimation of population abundance, 10 transects were sampled by the line-transect census protocol, between July/September 2015. We captured three individuals of Crax globulosa, two females and one male. The average home range was 804ha with MPC and 468ha with Kernel. The largest home range was 1393ha for MPC and 893ha for Kernel and the lowest was 286ha and 226ha respectively. In the census there were 148 records of the species, with 52.7% female, 43.3% male and 4% undetermined. Generating an estimate of 7.1 ind/km² within the study area. The size of the flocks ranged from 2-5 individuals, with 69.6% observed perching. These results are important tools for future conservation strategies, also studies of this nature fill important gaps in the ecology of Crax globulosa.