The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™

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IUCN 2008: T699A22197347

Cuniculus paca, Spotted Paca

Assessment by: Emmons, L.

View on www.iucnredlist.org

Citation: Emmons, L. 2016. Cuniculus paca. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016:
e.T699A22197347. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T699A22197347.en

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Taxonomy
Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family

Animalia Chordata Mammalia Rodentia Cuniculidae

Taxon Name:  Cuniculus paca (Linnaeus, 1766)

Synonym(s):
• Agouti paca (Linnaeus, 1766)

Common Name(s):
• English: Spotted Paca
• French: Agouti
• Spanish: Paca, Tepezquintle
Taxonomic Notes:
Formerly Agouti paca.

Assessment Information
Red List Category & Criteria: Least Concern ver 3.1

Year Published: 2016

Date Assessed: March 1, 2016

Justification:
Listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution, presumed large population, occurrence in a
number of protected areas, and because it is unlikely to be declining at nearly the rate required to
qualify for listing in a threatened category. However, local extinctions have occurred in the southeast of
its range due to habitat destruction.

Previously Published Red List Assessments

2008 – Least Concern (LC) – http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T699A13068075.en

1996 – Lower Risk/least concern (LR/lc)

Geographic Range
Range Description:
Occurs in eastern and southern Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia,
Paraguay, and most of Brazil, and has also been introduced into Cuba and the lesser Antilles (Patton
2015). There are two new records in Tamaulipas and Hidalgo (Northeastern Mexico) (Rodriguez-Ruiz et
al. 2012). It has a widespread distribution in Puebla, Mexico--16 records (Ramirez-Bravo and Hernandez
Santin 2012).

Country Occurrence:

© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Cuniculus paca – published in 2016. 1
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T699A22197347.en
Native: Argentina; Belize; Bolivia, Plurinational States of; Brazil; Colombia; Costa Rica; Ecuador; El
Salvador; French Guiana; Guatemala; Guyana; Honduras; Mexico; Nicaragua; Panama; Paraguay; Peru;
Suriname; Trinidad and Tobago; Uruguay; Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of

Introduced: Algeria; Cuba

© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Cuniculus paca – published in 2016. 2
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Distribution Map
Cuniculus paca

© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Cuniculus paca – published in 2016. 3
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T699A22197347.en
Population
Widespread and locally common in the northern part of its range; scarce in the south of its distribution.
Local extinctions of the species have occurred due to habitat destruction in the southeast of its range
(Quierolo pers. comm.).

This rodent occurs at population densities of 84 to 93 individuals per square kilometer in suitable
habitat in Colombia (Eisenberg and Redford 1999). Populations range from 25-70 adults per square km
depending on the habitat (Patton 2015). It makes up to 16% of biomass of non-volent mammals in their
communities (Patton 2015). Santos-Moreno and Perez-Irineo (2013) found the population 0.492 +/-
0.361 per hectare with variation probably due to precipitation; they also found an inverse statistically
significant relationship between paca and their predators and competitors.
Current Population Trend:  Stable

Habitat and Ecology (see Appendix for additional information)

The species occurs in a wide range of forest types in moist areas. It is frequently found in gallery forests
near rivers and standing waters, where it builds its own burrow, or it can occupy that of another animal.
Its diet is frugivorous and it may be an important seed distributor (Eisenberg and Redford 1999). Adults
can live up to 13 years; fecundity is low but survivorship of adults is high (Patton 2015). They are solitary
animals. Breeding occurs all year round, females breed one to three times a year with a litter size of one.
Gestation ranges from 114-119 days in the lab with an interbirth interval of 191 days (Patton 2015). It
carries diseases such as leishmanial and trypanosomiasis. Predators are all species of cats, coyotes, bush
dogs, crocodiles, and boa constrictors (Patton 2015).

Systems:  Terrestrial

Use and Trade

The Agouti is hunted for food. There have been studies on producing this species in captivity, it is not
known how successful these have been and whether some are captively sourced.

Threats (see Appendix for additional information)

This rodent is an important game animal throughout its range, and is frequently taken as bush meat. It
makes up as much as 8% of wild meat consumed (Patton 2015). Asprilla-Perea et al. (2011) found no
relation between the relative abundance of paca and the number of hunters of the harvest value per
month. Valsecchi et al. (2014) found that hunting happened at night and that moonlighting was a
common technique. Aquino et al. (2009) estimated hunting pressures to be 0.4 individuals/km2 and
population density to be 6.2 individuals per km2. Gallina et al. (2012) interviewed 176 people in Mexico
and estimated that this group had hunted 488 paca in the year. There are no regulations on hunting in
the area.

Conservation Actions (see Appendix for additional information)

The species in included in Annex C of the Council Regulation (EC) No 338/97 of 9 December 1996 on the
protection of species of wild fauna and flora by regulating trade therein. Honduras is included the
species in CITES Appendix III in 1987. CITES Export Quotas have been issued for certain countries since

© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Cuniculus paca – published in 2016. 4
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1997.

Credits
Assessor(s): Emmons, L.

Reviewer(s): Amori, G.

Contributor(s): Vieira, E., Queirolo, D. & Samudio Jr, R.

© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Cuniculus paca – published in 2016. 5
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Bibliography
Aquino,R., Gil and D. Pezo,E. 2009. Ecological aspects and hunting sustainability of paca (Cuniculus paca)
in the Itaya river basin, Peruvian Amazonia. Revista Peruana de Biologia 16(1): 67-72.

Asprilla-Perea, J., Lopez-Perea ,J.J., Viveros-Riveros, J.A. and Jiminez-Ortega, A.M. 2011. Relationship
between relative abundance and use of Cuniculus paca (guagua, tepezcuintle) in black communitits of
the Atrato river basin, Colombia. Mastozoologia neotropical 18(2): 301-306.

Eisenberg, J.F. and Redford, K.H. 1999. Mammals of the Neotropics. The Central Neotropics. The
University of Chicago Press, Chicago, USA.

Gallina, S., Perez-Torres, J. and Guzman-Aguirre,C.C. 2012. Use of the paca, Cuniculus paca (Rodentia:
Agoutidae) in the Sierra de Tabasco State Park, Mexico. Revista de Biologia Tropical 60(3): 1345-1355.

IUCN. 2016. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2016-2. Available at: www.iucnredlist.org.
(Accessed: 04 September 2016).

Patton, J.L. 2015. Family Cuniculidae G.S. Miller and Gidley, 1918. In: Patton, J.L., Pardiñas, U.F.J. and
D'Elía, G. (eds), Mammals of South America, pp. 726-733. University of Chicago Press, Chicago and
London.

Ramirez-Bravo, O.E. and Hernandez-Santin, L. 2012. New records of tepezcuincle (Cuniculus paca ) in
Puebla, Central Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodiv. 83(3): 872-874.

Rodriguez-Ruiz, E.R., Castro-Arellano, I. and Valencia-Herveth, J. 2012. New Records and Proposed
Geographical Range of Pacas (Cuniculus paca ) in Northeastern Mexico. The Southwestern Naturalist
57(2): 219-221.

Santos-Moreno, A. and Perez-Irineo, G. 2013. Abundancia de tepezcuintle (Cuniculus paca) y relación de

su presencia con la de competidores y depredadores en una selva tropical. Therya 4(1): 89-98.

Valsecchi, J., El Bizri, H.R. and Figueria, J.E.C. 2014. Subsistence hunting of Cuniculus paca in the middle
of the Solimões River, Amazonas, Brazil. Brazilian Journal of Biology 74(3): 560-568.

Citation
Emmons, L. 2016. Cuniculus paca. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T699A22197347.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T699A22197347.en

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To make use of this information, please check the Terms of Use.

External Resources
For Images and External Links to Additional Information, please see the Red List website.

© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Cuniculus paca – published in 2016. 6
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T699A22197347.en
 Appendix

Habitats
(http://www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/classification-schemes)

Major
Habitat Season Suitability
Importance?

1. Forest -> 1.6. Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland - Suitable -

Threats
(http://www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/classification-schemes)

Threat Timing Scope Severity Impact Score

5. Biological resource use -> 5.1. Hunting & trapping Ongoing - - -

terrestrial animals -> 5.1.1. Intentional use (species is
the target)
Stresses: 2. Species Stresses -> 2.1. Species mortality

Conservation Actions in Place

(http://www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/classification-schemes)

Conservation Actions in Place

In-Place Species Management

Harvest management plan: Yes

In-Place Education

Included in international legislation: Yes

Subject to any international management/trade controls: Yes

Additional Data Fields

Population
Population severely fragmented: No

© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Cuniculus paca – published in 2016. 7
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The IUCN Red List Partnership

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ is produced and managed by the IUCN Global Species
Programme, the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) and The IUCN Red List Partnership.

The IUCN Red List Partners are: BirdLife International; Botanic Gardens Conservation International;
Conservation International; Microsoft; NatureServe; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Sapienza University of
Rome; Texas A&M University; Wildscreen; and Zoological Society of London.

THE IUCN RED LIST OF THREATENED SPECIES™