3 



A second important use of game is to provide nonedible products such as leather, skins, hides, 

 and feathers. Use of skins and hides initially was limited to that by indigenous people to perform 

 rituals, conduct trade with other indigenous groups, and manufacture clothing and artifacts. Today, the 

 use of nonedible products has greatly increased in volume and includes indigenous groups, mestizos, 

 and local and foreign business people. 



Much of the trade in leather, skins, hides, and feathers now is for commercial purposes. Most 

 of the recent leather trade for example, has been composed of peccaries (Tayassu tajacu, T. pecari; 

 Broad, 1984; Hvidberg-Hansen, 1970), capybaras (Smith, 1981b), and various species of lizards 

 (Suborder Sauria) and crocodiles (Order Crocodylia; Luxmoore, 1988). Until recendy, die skin trade 

 was concentrated on a few species of carnivores taken to satisfy Uie international demand, including 

 giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis), river otter (Lutra longicaudis), jaguar {Panthera onca), and several 

 smaller feline species (Felis spp.; McMahan, 1986). This trade in skins, however, generally has ended 

 due to inteiTiational restrictions such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of 

 Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Trade in feadiers has declined markedly, too, but Aztec and Inca 

 Indians formerly used feaUiers in capes and artifacts utilized during religious ceremonies (Haemig, 

 1978). The feaUier trade today is limited primarily to feadiers from rheas (Pterocnemia pennata and 

 Rhea americana) that are made into dusters (Cajal, 1988). 



Other nonedible products obtained from wild animals include guano from bats and birds 

 (Haynes, 1987); oil from reptiles, bird eggs, and manatees (Trichechus manatus, and T. inunguis; 

 Pereira, 1944; SmiUi, 1974, 1981a. 1981b); bones, teeth, and claws for tools, handicrafts, and 

 ornamental purposes (March M., 1987; Parra Lara, 1986; Santana et al., 1990); and animal parts used 

 for medicinal and ritual purposes, such as sloth (Bradypus tridactylus and Choloepus hoffmanni; 

 Romanoff, 1984) and little spotted cats (Felis tigrina; Jorgenson and Jorgenson, 1991). 



A third principal use of wildlife is as live animals. Both indigenous and nonindigenous people 

 keep many species of live animals as pets. Song birds and parrots commonly are used for this purpose 

 (Beissinger and Snyder, 1991; Inigo-Elias and Ramos, 1991; Jorgenson and Thomsen, 1987; Thomsen 



