The story of the marsh deer is similar. Once a common inhabitant of South American wetlands, it has been eradicated from the flood plains surrounding large rivers by hydroelectric development. Its last stronghold is in the Pantanal, Brazil's expansive tropical wetlands. Habitat change, subsistence hunting, and competition with livestock and introduced species are bringing about the disappearance of Latin America's large mammals. The status of deer as well as many other species in South America are unknown.
Basic information is fragmentary and incomplete.
In some countries, such as Paraguay and Bolivia, population statistics on wildlife are lacking entirely. Few local universities teach ecology, wildlife biology, or conservation biology. In Brazil, the first ecology course was introduced to university curricula only a few years ago. Thus, few South Americans have the opportunity to develop skills in field biology unless they have the opportunity to study abroad. The result is a critical shortage of field biologists with first-hand knowledge of the conservation issues.