The Tapir Gallery

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Take action online

Several web sites do the work for you. They make it easy to e-mail or fax letters to government or corporation officials giving your support for or against a bill or action. Usually, you fill in a line or two to identify yourself, sign the pre-written letter, and hit SEND. Here are some sites:

Race for the Rainforest
Click once per day on the button, and a certain number of square feet of rainforest is saved. (After you click, you will see the amount on the screen.) This is not on the Nature Conservancy's site, but they coordinate the land protection. I phoned the Nature Conservancy to make sure this was legitimate and that it works. It is and it does. And it's easy.

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
As of June 14, 2000, the top listing was tapir habitat in Belize.

WWF Conservation Action Network
This one takes a minute to load, but it's worth the trouble. You can sign up and they will e-mail you when a new action comes up to vote on.

Climate Voice
Combat global warming! Fill out a short form and click "Send it now" to support an international treaty that will promote strategies to stop global warming.

Animal Sites

Tapir's Choice
There are loads of sites on the Web about animals. "Tapir's Choice" is about specific animal sites we find especially valuable in terms of conservation and/or uniqueness. This page now has links to a number of animal cams.

Conservation and Ecology for Everyone

How long will litter last?
Find out here.

Water and Sustainability

Multi-Faceted Conservation and Ecology Sites

Programa Ambiental
From Brazil, in Portuguese and English. This site has many interesting pages on conservation, environmental issues, and human rights issues. Antônio Silveira, the site's founder says, "A Última Arca de Noé" (The Last Noah's Ark) . . . is a Brazilian site about ecology, environment, biodiversity, environmental education, animals, birding etc."

Conservation Quotes

Conservation Quotes
Inspiration and ideas. . . .

Directories

Amazing Environmental Organization Web Directory!
Search or click. Find anything.

Ecology WWW page
A long list of WWW sites of interest to ecologists. There are hundreds of links here, and it's searchable.

Endangered!
The American Museum of Natural History's links to more links. The museum's site map is here. Pretty cool.

Ecotourism

This is a hot topic and will be increasingly discussed and argued about as we move into the next millenium. There are many pros and cons to ecotourism. We are NOT experts and are not qualified to say what works and what doesn't. But, the importance of this topic cannot be ignored. Hopefully, the links below will provide useful information.

Ecovolunteer
Traveling for Nature: "You could say that Ecovolunteer is a travel agent. But the trips we organize are not your average holidays. They bring you to places that are not accessible to tourists. Where you get the possibility to protect nature and its inhabitants."

Endangered Species

FrogWeb
Focus on Amphibian Declines and Deformities. This site allows observers to report deformed amphibians. "Scientists are closely tracking developments in the malformation and decline of amphibian populations in North America and elsewhere. . . ." (FrogWeb). Reuters (February 24) reported that a committee has been created by the United States Department of the Interior to study severe declines in the world's amphibian species. "All amphibian biologists are now convinced that something unusual and catastrophic is happening to amphibians," said Ron Heyer of the Smithsonian Institution.

Information on Rare, Threatened and Endangered Mammals
There is a lot of information here on a lot of species. Included are conservation links.

Global Scope Conservation Orgs

Conservation International
This organization has some extremely innovative and functional means of preserving habitats, among other programs. The President, Russell A. Mittermeier, has been well-known in conservation circles for many years and has authored a number of volumes and articles on various species of endangered wildlife. I had the pleasure of knowing him while he was still studying for his degrees and doing the beginnings of his research - during the course of which, he brought Mona the tapir into my life.

IUCN
The World Conservation Union. They publish the Red Data Books and Red Data Lists of endangered species.

Environmental Defense Fund
This is an extensive site, well designed with lots of information and ways to help save endangered species. They have a beautiful opening graphic and a searchable index.

Rainforest

Conservation in Belize
Three sites have come to my attention, all put together beautifully by webmaster and photographer, Tony Rath. They all involve ecology, conservation and wildlife in Belize. Belize is a country where the Baird's tapir still has a very strong population, and it should remain so if the conservation programs continue as they are going. Other animals are in more danger in that country and conservation efforts are directed toward saving them. There is current information on some of these on the sites listed below. There is even a location called "Tapir Mountain Nature Reserve" on the Audubon site. When I met Sharon Matola in April, 1997, I learned that one of the obstacles that had to be overcome in Belize as far as teaching people that tapirs were animals worthy of being protected, was a generally-held belief that a tapir would skin a human alive with its nose! Here are the sites:

The Belize Zoo and Tropical Education Center
This zoo and its founder/director, Sharon Matola, have had an immeasurable impact on conservation in that country, and conservation efforts and successes are discussed on the site.

The Belize Audubon Society's Website has a lot of information on the Park system in Belize, including maps of protected areas.

Belize Marine TREC (Tropical Research and Education Center)

RAN ~ Rainforest Action Network
A great site, heavy on news, action and "what you can do to help."

Resources and Links

The Guardian Newsletter's links page

Schools

Zoo Biology at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York
With zoos becoming more and more involved in all aspects of animal ecology and conservation, the conservation aspect of the school's work is vital. They say, "Since Zoo Biology is to a large extent about conservation, it is an important topic and consideration for those who are in the Zoo Biology program at Canisius." Don't miss the nice photo of the lady and the elephants!

Zoo-Related Conservation Orgs and Links

AZA: About the AZA and its programs
An informative description of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association and their conservation efforts for the world's animals.

The San Diego Zoo
This is a wonderful site with many conservation references and links.

Cincinnati Zoo
You hear talk about sites with "content," and sites without. There is plenty of content on this site, and a searchable index. They store an unusual number of printed pages here. They're easy to find and full of readable information.