Avaliação da efetividade de medidas de manejo envolvendo o conflito humano-capivara no estado de São Paulo

Abstract

In the state of São Paulo, the high number of Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris capybaras present in the rural and urban environment can be considered as an example of ecological imbalance caused by environmental degradation, where deforestation and the replacement of native vegetation along water courses by agricultural and real estate activities ended up creating a favorable environment for this species, which has a high reproductive rate and great ability to adapt to degraded and anthropic environments. The absence of natural predators and the abundance of food associates with the population imbalance of the species in certain areas is identified as the main cause of excessive tick infestation, resulting in a high risk to public health due to the capybara being the primary host of ticks of the genus Amblyomma, vectors of the bacterium Rickettsia rickettsii that causes brazilian spotted fever (BSF). The research, given the environmental relevance and negative impacts, aims to evaluate the level of effectiveness of management measures involving the capybara-human conflict in the state of São Paulo in process with authorization issued by the Secretariat of Infrastructure and the Environment - SIMA between the period from 2011 to 2022. In order to obtain the data, an online questionnaire was applied, consisting of 36 questions subdivided into five blocks structured in a mixed method, quantitative (explanatory) outlined in Likert Scale of two points and a five points in ordinal scale in the first four blocks and qualitative (exploratory) in the fifth block, respectively evaluating the risk to public health, the application of control measures, the effectiveness of physical barriers, the perception of local risk and the main environmental impacts resulting from the measures adopted in the management of the species in the area of the enterprises. According to the results obtained, 11 enterprises were evaluated for attending the object of this study in the method of total euthanasia of individuals, being that nine (81,82%) effectively concluded the management of capybaras, with eight (88,89%) related to closed areas and only one related to the open area, leaving only two process in progress, one in a closed area and one in an open area, obtaining 3,68 points on the Likert Scale for the final average involving all blocks.