  SPECIES SURVIVAL COMMISSION |
Tapirs:
Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan
Published 1997
Over the past several years a plethora of Action Plans have been developed for specific taxonomic assemblages by various Specialist Groups of the IUCN Species Survival Commission. The goal of these Action Plans is to conserve species on a sustainable basis. These plans frequently comprise the first, if not only, comprehensive document for conserving each species for which they were written. The plans are easily comprehensible by administrators and local conservation officials in the countries which harbor Action Plan fauna.
Here we present an Action Plan for tapirs with specific chapters authored by biologists who are specialized in the species or topic. Three tapir species are the largest endemic land animals in the Neotropics; the other species is a Malaysian endemic. The three Neotropical species represent the only living, non-introduced Perissodactyls in the Western Hemisphere. As tapirs are among the largest herbivores, their role in the ecosystem is of paramount importance, especially as seed dispersers and seed predators.
This Action Plan addresses the current status of the four extant tapir species, which are being threatened by habitat destruction and hunting. The tapir has survived for the past 20 million years, probably because of its flexible snout and well developed olfactory system that help tapir detect predators. As with so many other species, the actions of humans are threatening tapir species after a long and successful evolutionary history.
We hope this Action Plan contributes to our knowledge of tapirs. More importantly, we hope that this document will stimulate conservation action, where needed, for this fascinating and biologically important family of animals.
Daniel M. Brooks, Richard E. Bodmer, and Sharon Matola Co-Editors
Graphics were kindly provided by Maria Cole and Jakob U.-Peters who provided some of the photos, as well as Stephen Nash (Conservation International) who provided drawings, and Laura Anne (City of Houston, Department of Parks and Recreation) who standardized the range maps.
The authors and editors thank the following people for providing status information from specific regions and/or making constructive comments on draft manuscripts: Z. Abidin, J. Andrews, J. Back, A.F. Barbosa, R. Barongi, L. Calvo, C. Campos, C. Cerrato-B., S. Chalukian, M. Chamacho, A. Chiarello, E. Constantino, A. Contreras, A. Cuarón, M. Dee, C. Downer, J. Eisenberg, S. Elaqupillay, J. Fragoso, M. Galetti, M. Gimenez-Dixon, A. Grajal, L. Greene, C. Guichard-Romero, A. Hernández-Yañez, R. Hogan, J. Jorgenson, C. Julliot, K. Kranz, F. Leeuwenberg, L. Marineros, I. March, M.A. Martinez-Morales, P. Martuscelli, E. McCance, S. Midence, O. Montenegro, E. Naranjo, C. Ngampongsai, F. Olmos, G. Paz y Miño, L. Pinder, E. Raez-L., E. Ramsay, K. Redford, L. Renjifo, A. Rylands, L. Salas, J. Schachter, T. Sullivan, P. Vargas, C. Vaughan, and A. Zegarra-P. We apologize to individuals whom we failed to mention above, who have helped with this document - our thanks.
The completion of this document would not have been possible without the aid of the aforementioned people. Their help and advice was invaluable, and we remain indebted to them all. Funding and support to produce this document was provided by the IUCN/SSC Peter Scott Fund, the Sultanate of Oman, Houston Zoological Society, and Wildlife Preservation Trust International.
This Action Plan is dedicated to a committed group of tapir conservationists, both past and present, and to the vertebrate ecologists who have spent countless hours in an endeavor to better understand the role of tapirs in their ecosystems.
Tapirs are from an ancient lineage that are important tropical forest seed dispersers. Unfortunately, all species are threatened by habitat destruction and hunting. The mountain tapir which is restricted to the Andes of northwestern South America is Endangered by IUCN standards, and should be given priority for conservation. The Malayan tapir, a South East Asian endemic, and Baird's tapir of Mesoamerica and northwestern South America are categorized as Vulnerable by IUCN. Finally, the lowland tapir of tropical South America is considered at Lower Risk - near threatened by IUCN categories. Table A.1 overviews the categorization of IUCN. All four tapirs are listed on CITES Appendix I.