Tapir Talk Archives

9 October 1997

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    ___  __                   Digest   9 October 1997 - Vol. 1, No. 66
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The Tapir Preservation Fund

The Tapir Gallery: http://www.tapirback.com/tapirgal/
Tapir Talk Archives and Info: http://www.tapirback.com/tapirgal/tt.htm
E-mail: tapir@tapirback.com
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TAPIR TALK   -  9 October 1997   -   Vol. 1, No. 66

Contents of this issue
    1. Kevin Flesher: Report from Brazil




Return-Path: 
Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 17:53:38 +0000
From: Richard Hartley 
Reply-To: gordon@provider.com.br
Organization: Personal
To: tapir@tapirback.com
Subject: tapir talk

Tapirs (Tapirus terrestris) in the Northern Mata Atlantica

On a recent trip away from our study site in the Itubera area of 
Bahia, Brasil, we were excited to find tapir tracks in a lowland rain 
forest only 12km. west of the beach town of Porto Seguro. The 
following is information I gathered while visiting the forest.

Location and geography. Estacao Veracruz is a private reserve owned by 
the Odebrecht Corporation. It is located just north of the 
Eunapolis-Porto Seguro highway in southern Bahia. The reserve consists 
of 6,047 hectares of lowland Atlantic rain forest (a big forest block 
for this severely endangered ecosystem) of which approximately 76% is 
an incredibly beautiful climax forest with the upper canopy reaching 
30-40+ m. The reserve lies on a flat sandy plain with "canyons" 
created along the streams and rivers by the action of clear swift 
water cutting through the soft earth. At least 5 major streams course 
through the forest. Outside the reserve, the landscape is a depressing 
example of the misuse of land, and evoked images of what I would 
imagine the earth to look like after a nuclear holocaust. In this case 
the reality is the complete replacement of high biodiversity rain 
forest with very low biodiversity degraded cattle pasture. Most of the 
forests were destroyed between 1960-1975.

Tapirs. Although we did not see tapirs on our two day visit, people 
who work in the park see them occassionally and our guide even got a 
picture of one running ahead of him on one of the park roads. Tapir 
numbers are unknown and the estimates varied from 5-20 animals for the 
reserve. The guide (who seemed the most knowledgable person we spoke 
with) believes there are 5-6 tapirs living here. He claims there are 
two types of tapir (a claim many people made in northastern Honduras 
as well): anta sapoteira = a big variety; anta mirim = small variety. 
He says the pelage is the same in both "species". 

Hunting. Although hunting is prohibited throughout Brasil (a few 
exceptions exist), it is rampant in Bahia and has led to the 
extirpation of many species of wildlife. In our study area, tapirs are 
reported to have gone extinct 20-30 years ago. The presence of tapirs 
in the Veracruz reserve is quite amazing really. Enforced protection 
only began with the Odebrecht acquisition in 1991, and we were told 
that before this time the forest was heavily hunted by both 
subsistence and commmercial hunters. White-lipped peccaries, browm 
howler monkeys, and muriqui (Brachyteles arachnoides) were all 
extirpated from the area 20-30 years ago and the scarcity of wildlife 
today insinuates that populations have yet to recover. So how did 
these tapirs survive ? An intriguing question I cannot answer. The 
good news is that the reserve is well protected now and we saw no 
evidence of hunting in our hikes through the core area. A little bit 
of hunting still goes on in the southeastern corner,but with guards 
patrolling and educational outreach this is being eliminated.Tapirs 
have been seen within 1 km. of the highway, so it appears they feel 
safe enough to venture out of the forest core.

Tapir tracks. We found one set of tapir tracks along a stream in the 
central part of the reserve. The tapir had been using the area 
recently as the tracks only looked a few days old. There were many 
tracks in the moist earth, all the same size, so it looked like the 
beast was traveling alone. Print size was 16cm wide about 14cm. long.
The guide said this was a big animal. This is small compared to the 
Baird's tapir tracks I found in Belize and Honduras. Are these big 
tracks for a T. terrestris, or are the tapirs smaller in this 
population?

Habitat. The tracks were found along a swift clear stream 2-3 meters 
wide and up to 30 cm. deep. Herbaceous wetland plants were abundant as 
were tree ferns and epiphytic Philodendrons.The slopes on both sides 
of the stream were steep, and we followed several tapir trails which 
led into the old growth forest of the uplands. Abundant tree fall gaps 
in the uplands probably provide excellent foraging habitat allowing 
the tapirs to exploit forest resources away from the waterways.

Conservation status. Almost all the fauna of the northern Mata 
Atlantica is highly endangered, and the tapirs are on the brink of 
extinction. This small population is special in that it has survived 
intensive hunting pressure and landscape alterations, but it is so 
small that it may not be viable in the long run. As with many species 
in this threatened ecosystem, "shuttling" individuals in an attempt to 
simulate dispersal and maintain genetic robustness may be the only way 
to manage the tapirs in the long run. Re-forestation is a complex and 
expensive proceedure and it will be a long time before forest remnants 
are linked through "biodiversity corridors". From our own research and 
the information we have from others, we believe this is the 
northernmost tapir population in the Mata Atlantica.

Visiting the reserve. Estacao Veracruz is open to the public on 
Tuesdays and Thursdays between 8:30 AM and 2:30 PM (?). Visitors are 
required to be accompanied by guides while hiking in the forest. There 
is apparently always some one at the Vistor Center, so you can try to 
arrange hikes there. Scientists may be allowed to visit at other 
times, as the managers enjoy conversing with other researchers.

Kevin Flesher


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Sheryl Todd  ~  The Tapir Gallery  ~  Tapir Preservation Fund    
http://www.tapirback.com/tapirgal/        tapir@tapirback.com 
Tapir Talk info & archives: http://www.tapirback.com/tapirgal/tt.htm
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"Promoting the Welfare of Tapirs Everywhere"
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