Tayra: An Elusive Forest Acrobat

Depending on the geography, the forest dweller tayra (Eira barbara) goes by various names — tolomuco or perico in Central America, viejo de monte in the Yucatan Peninsula, motete in Honduras, and irara in Brazil.

They’re about the size of a dog but look like something else entirely — a cross between a weasel and a wolverine — with dark fur, dark eyes, short legs, long claws, pronounced canines, long bushy tail, small head, rounded ears, long whiskers, and dark eyes.

But what is a tayra exactly, and what makes them distinct from their relatives?

Their Unique Physical Attributes

The tayra of the Mustelidae family is native to the Americas. Measuring 22 to 28 inches long, tayras have an endearing look about them. From a distance, they share an appearance with badgers, greater grisons, skunks, ferrets, and other Mustelids.

However, the yellow or orange-colored patch on their chest allows people to tell them apart. The patch is like a human fingerprint. Each has a unique shape, color, and size, allowing them to be identified. Their head and neck are also a paler color compared to the uniform dark coat across their bodies and limbs.

Their Range and Habitat

Tyras are distributed across North, Central, and South American countries like Costa Rica, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Argentina, Colombia, Belize, Brazil (except Eastern Brazil), Trinidad and Tobago, Mexico, Venezuela, Peru, Paraguay, etc.

They thrive in tropical and subtropical evergreen forests, and can also be found in grasslands, plantations, and cultivated crop lands as they move from one forested area to another, living in hollow trees or burrows. Their individual home ranges could be as vast as 9.3 square miles!

Their Food Habits

Comfortable on the ground and in the trees, these tree-dependent, opportunistic omnivores eat almost anything in the forest, like fruits, birds, rodents, lizards, small invertebrates, honey, etc. Historically, they were used by indigenous communities to control rodent infestation.

Tayras that detect a scent follow the smell until they find the source. They don’t stalk or ambush their prey. They’re also quite smart as they store raw bananas for future consumption when they ripen.

Their Behavior

Tayras are a ball of energy and constantly curious — almost never running out of energy for climbing, leaping, galloping, biting, burrowing, and bouncing about, moving from treetop to treetop with their curved claws. They also run over long distances and on rocky cliffs. These animals are usually active during midday and afternoon.

They’re playful but shouldn’t become pets. They do best in the wild and can become aggressive and unpredictable if threatened. They also require an open, high-energy environment, which may not be feasible in a home setting. Like their relatives, they have anal scent glands but their secretions are not as strong as their relatives: skunks and otters.

Their Survival Instincts

Tayras have multi-directional hearing. They also have a keen sense of smell and a strong tactile sense because of their whiskers. However, these omnivores have poor eyesight. Hence, they use their sense of smell and hearing to identify food, and to alert themselves when they are in danger of becoming prey.

Their secretions, unlike skunks, are not strong enough to be used as a defense mechanism. They move quickly, moving from tree to tree when they are being chased, usually by the harpy eagles from above. Their agility and avoidance of large clearings enable them to survive and live another day in the wild.

They are not known to make a lot of sounds, but when alarmed, they communicate by snarling, snoring, or growling while seeking refuge in trees.

Their Breeding

Tayras breed year-round but only reproduce once per year. Gestation takes about 63 to 67 days. The females give birth to a litter of up to three offspring, each weighing about 3.5 oz.

These baby tayras are born blind and with closed ears, but are already fully coated with black fur. They are taught to hunt as early as three months or younger, and at ten months, they can already venture on their own.

Their Lifespan

In captivity, they live 18 to 22 years. In the wild, their lifespan is undetermined. The threats to their existence in the wild and their survival abilities impact their longevity.

Population Threats

The IUCN Red List classifies tayras as Least Concern. However, their populations are becoming smaller. Habitat disturbance endangers their existence, like other species of evergreen forests. The conversion of forests and grasslands poses a threat to the fragmentation of their habitats and the decline in their population.

When tree-canopied forests give way to land developments, it disrupts tayras’ ways of living. Some of the common disturbances to their habitat are:

Deforestation

Whether for cattle ranching, urban expansion, logging, or agriculture, cutting down trees takes away so much from these highly tree-dependent species. They lose shelter and nesting sites. Worse, what used to be their safe space becomes hunting grounds.

We, at Paso Pacifico, track the conditions of tayras to see where threats are imminent and direct our efforts towards addressing them.

Human Threats

Communities that raise chickens and other farm animals near forests perceive tayras as pests when they attack the farm animals. The farm owners kill the tayras to protect their livelihood.

This is one of the reasons why we observe and listen to local communities. We strive to understand their economic and cultural needs so we can come up with suitable solutions like incentivizing tayra protection and implementing social programs. This entails working with local leaders and key community figures.

Hunting and poaching within the illegal pet and fur trade, including becoming roadkill, also contribute to population threats. By working with community leaders, using technology for data-driven solutions, and local cooperation, we endeavor to address these concerns effectively.

Agricultural Expansion

While tayras can survive in crop lands, cultivated lands, and ranches, these agricultural expansions alter ecosystems and biodiversity. Such expansions could reduce their population if they aren’t managed. Promoting sustainable development, conservation, responsible leadership, and cultivating relationships with landowners allows us to raise awareness and seek help from local communities. We thus promote productive dialogue, cooperation, and collaboration among stakeholders so we can enact sustainable solutions.

Climate Change

Climate change is here. Temperatures are changing dramatically, while rainfall is becoming heavier. These force tayras from their homes. Climate change also contributes to the increase in the extent and frequency of wildfires that destroy vast areas of grasslands and forests.

Paso Pacifico, together with its partners and volunteers, is calling for carbon footprint reduction to mitigate its far-reaching adverse effects on human and wildlife.

Infrastructure Development

Road constructions result in the fragmentation of wildlife habitats as forest areas are broken into patches. This leads to isolated populations and disrupted environments for tayras.

We plant a large number of trees as part of our iterative process so we can provide shelter to fragmented tayra populations.

Join Our Mission

Paso Pacifico employs human advocacy and technology-driven solutions to restore and protect the Pacific Slope ecosystems of Mesoamerica. Through an integrative approach that engages the grassroots and local communities, we examine wildlife conditions and work with local communities, landowners, and partner organizations to deliver effective and sustainable solutions.

We invite you to join us in our mission through volunteerism, corporate partnerships, donations, and fundraisers that can support our initiatives to preserve wildlife corridors, one habitat at a time. Let’s proactively protect the future of tayras and other wildlife species by taking a stand before they become extinct.

A Greener Future for the Tayra