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$1,610 in Matching Funds
Raised for Patricia Medici ~

"Lowland Tapirs as Landscape Detectives for the Atlantic Forest:
A New Conservation Approach"


Patricia Medici and Zezinho capture and radio-collar lowland tapir Cidao in the Atlantic Rainforest of Brazil - Click for larger image
March 18, 2005

$1,610.00 raised in the first two weeks of March

We made it! Thanks to your generosity, we have met the challenge! Big thanks to Alex Cardenas ($100.00), Katalin Pinter and Christian Fabris ($100.00), and the many others who donated but did not want to see thier names "in lights." You are ALL "lights." Thank you all, and of course we want to express tremendous appreciation to Elaine Beckham, who made this fundraiser possible.

The Challenge:

Since 1997 we have helped support the tapir conservation work of Patricia Medici (Pati), shown above with Jose Maria de Aragao (called "Zezinho") and one of Pati's captured tapirs, "Cidao." Her landmark ten-year study will end in 2006. Now, just in time to help bring it to a spectacular conclusion, we have received a matching funds challenge. Remember Paul Beckham, who started the Beckham Endowment for us? Elaine Beckham, his widow, has offered us $1 (US) for every $1 we raise, up to $1,000.00 maximum.

You can read about Pati’s project here. Both her proposal (9 pages, includes budget, 247 KB) and her 2005 progress report (5 pages, includes photos of the field team, 2.55 MB) are available for dowload as Word documents. Just click the links. The proposal will tell you why Pati calls her tapirs “landscape detectives.”

Or for a brief version, read on . . .
Pati tracks isolated groups of lowland tapirs through the forest fragments that are still accessible to them. She monitors the tapirs’ health, populations, and genetic status. She also gets students and local people involved in this project: she provides fieldwork for the students, and education for farmers about sustainable agricultural practices that will help protect the remaining forest fragments.

Pati’s data will make these small tapir groups healthier when conservationists start to promote genetic exchange between the isolated tapir groups: which groups need which genes the most, and which other groups can provide them? It will also help save Brazil’s Atlantic Forest ecosystem. If wildlife can move freely among the forest fragments, biodiversity will continue to flourish there. Making “corridors” in the right places for the right kind of wildlife is critical.

We’re raising funds to help see Pati through the end of her project, and remember, every dollar you donate turns into two, thanks to Elaine Beckham's matching fund challenge. Your contribution may be tax-deductible; the Tapir Preservation Fund (TPF) is a 501 (c) (3) charitable organization.

With the caveat that this is historical information (the budgets, especially, are out-dated), you can read more about Pati's work and see lots of photos and maps on the Tapir Gallery's Conservation Profile of Patricia Medici.


Patricia Medici scratches Napa a Tapir at Branfere Zoo, France - Click for larger image
Patricia Medici scratches "Napa," a tapir at Branfere Zoo, France.

TOP PHOTO: Pati and Jose capture and radio-collar lowland tapir "Cidao" in the Atlantic Rainforest of Brazil.



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