Peccary Personalities Help Save Endangered Species in Brazil

A piglike mammal named Naruto is teaching scientists an unexpected lesson about saving endangered species: personality matters just as much in the wild as it does at the office.

Researchers at Brazil's State University of Santa Cruz spent months studying 17 white-lipped peccaries before releasing them into protected forests. They recorded 17 hours of behavior, tracking everything from friendly touches to bold exploration. Each peccary got a personality profile ranking traits like boldness and sociability.

The goal was simple but revolutionary. Find out if an animal's personality affects its survival chances in the wild.

White-lipped peccaries have lost 60 percent of their historical range in Brazil by 2020. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists them as vulnerable. Previous reintroduction efforts had mostly failed.

Naruto, named after an anime character, was the group's loner. He ate last, stayed thin, and wandered away from the pack. Less than a year after release, he died from predator bites, likely from a jaguar or puma. Peccaries survive attacks best when they stick together.

But his wandering served a purpose. Naruto helped the group spread out and explore new territory. The more social peccaries stayed together for protection. After two years, the group has welcomed 10 healthy babies.

Researcher Selene Nogueira learned that successful peccary groups need both personality types. Adventurous loners push boundaries while social butterflies maintain group safety. It's a balance that works.

The Ripple Effect

This approach is spreading across conservation worldwide. Scientists now recognize that personality testing before release can help choose which animals have the best survival odds. It's especially valuable when budgets are tight and every animal counts toward saving a species.

The shift marks a major change in conservation thinking. For decades, scientists assumed animals of the same species should behave roughly the same way. Evolution would iron out the differences, the thinking went.

Then landmark papers in 2004 flipped that assumption. Researchers showed that behavioral variety itself helps species survive. Evolution doesn't create behavioral monotony. It creates personalities.

Kate Laskowski, a behavioral ecologist at UC Davis, remembers conferences in the early 2000s when every researcher was discovering personalities in different animals. Mammals, birds, reptiles, even mollusks showed consistent individual differences.

Daniel Blumstein at UCLA has spent his career connecting animal behavior to conservation. He started studying marmots in Pakistan and saw firsthand how personality affects survival. The field took time to catch up, but now personality science is reshaping how we save endangered species.

For vulnerable animals worldwide, understanding who thrives in groups and who blazes trails could mean the difference between extinction and recovery.