161 

 Crop Species Consumed by Game Species 



Empty stomachs . Not all of the stomachs obtained from harvested wild animals contained 

 food. A total of 22 individuals (ca. 4% of 584 game animals taken) had empty stomachs at the time 

 they were taken (Table 5-2). Coatis had the greatest number of empty stomachs at 14 (ca. 8% of 167 

 individuals), while no empty stomachs were reported for seven game taxa. 



Major crop species . Many of the main crop species were not consumed by game species. Of 

 the 13 main crop species planted by gardeners (Table 5-1), seven taxa were not recorded in the 

 stomach contents of game species, and will not be considered here further: yam, chaya, lentil, jicama, 

 ib bean, chili, and fruits. For purposes of this ch^ter, the remaining six crop species will be renamed 

 here as major crop species and will form the basis for the following discussion: sweet potato, squash, 

 yuca, com, kidney bean, and other/zacate. 



Among the major crop species, com and squash were the two most frequent taxa in the 

 stomachs of game species with food, by percent occurrence, at 25% and 6%, respectively (n = 284 

 stomachs analyzed; Table 5-2). Zacate (taken by 7 of 11 game species) and com (taken by 5 of 11 

 game species) were the major crop species most widely taken by game species. 



The number of crop taxa in stomach contents of game species varied by game taxon (Table 5- 

 2). The paca, agouti, and collared peccary consumed the greatest number of crop taxa, at four each, 

 whereas the white-lipped peccary consumed no crop taxon and the coati, brocket deer, white-tailed 

 deer, thicket tinamou, and plain chachalaca consumed a single crop taxon each. 



The percent occurrence of major crop species in stomach contents of game species varied by 

 taxon (Table 5-2). The ocellated turkey had the highest percent occurrence of major crop species at 

 80% (n = 5 stomachs), followed by the agouti (percent occurrence = 50%, n = 26 stomachs 

 analyzed), paca (percent occurrence = 42%, n = 36 stomachs analyzed), and coati (percent occurrence 

 = 40%, n = 129 stomachs analyzed). Overall, 35% of the stomachs that were not empty contained at 

 least one major crop species. 



