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Chacoan peccaries born at Prague Zoo

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Prague Zoo is celebrating the landmark birth of two Chacoan peccaries - an incredibly rare mammal once thought extinct. The Chacoan peccary is a mammal similar to a wild pig that is native to a small isolated area of South America. The animal was once believed to be extinct and its existence was first described in 1930 based on fossil samples that dated to the Pleistocene period. However, four decades later, American scientist Ralph Wetzel discovered a small population of Chacoan peccaries living in the Chaco region of Argentina. Even then, the Chacoan peccary was not very numerous, living only in dry thorny forests. Over time, due to deforestation and many other human-related factors, it has become an endangered species. Only one other zoo has regularly bred the unique species making these births a significant step forward in conservation efforts. Unfortunately, due to human overhunting, deforestation and diseases, their population of several thousand has continued to shrink over the last 50 years, prompting European zoos to launch a program for their survival. 24 May 2019 Pictured: Chacoan peccaries born at Prague Zoo. Photo credit: Hamernik/Prague Zoo/MEGA TheMegaAgency.com +1 888 505 6342

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A critically endangered pig-like creature once thought extinct gives birth - 27 May 2019
Prague Zoo is celebrating the landmark birth of two Chacoan peccaries - an incredibly rare mammal once thought extinct. The Chacoan peccary is a mammal similar to a wild pig that is native to a small isolated area of South America. The animal was once believed to be extinct and its existence was first described in 1930 based on fossil samples that dated to the Pleistocene period. However, four decades later, American scientist Ralph Wetzel discovered a small population of Chacoan peccaries living in the Chaco region of Argentina. Even then, the Chacoan peccary was not very numerous, living only in dry thorny forests. Over time, due to deforestation and many other human-related factors, it has become an endangered species. Only one other zoo has regularly bred the unique species making these births a significant step forward in conservation efforts. Unfortunately, due to human overhunting, deforestation and diseases, their population of several thousand has continued to shrink over the last 50 years, prompting European zoos to launch a program for their survival. 24 May 2019 Pictured: Chacoan peccaries born at Prague Zoo. Photo credit: Hamernik/Prague Zoo/MEGA TheMegaAgency.com +1 888 505 6342