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Tapirs:
Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan
Published 1997
Status and Action Plan of Baird's Tapir
(Tapirus bairdi)
continued from Previous Page
Action Plan
It is recognized that there are many international and national, social, political, and economic circumstances that affect the prospects of biological diversity conservation in a given country or region. Here we concentrate exclusively on the specific actions which could help directly promote the conservation of Baird's tapir. It is important to note, that although the recommendations presented here to emphasize the case of the tapir, it is essential that any actions directed to its conservation should complement and enhance initiatives to conserve biological diversity in general in the region.
I. Habitat availability and change assessments
Habitat availability is key to the survival of any species. The main habitat areas for tapirs have already been identified. It is possible, however, that there are other areas which have escaped detection. Additionally there are high deforestation rates in most countries where Baird's tapir is native. Thus, it is necessary to have a habitat monitoring system which may help detect habitat areas and identify regions where land-cover changes may be a conservation concern. The various remote sensing systems are efficient tools to assess habitat availability and change. There are already several land-cover change studies for some regions within the range of Baird's tapir, but these efforts need to be updated periodically and should be expanded to other regions.
II. Surveys to determine presence or absence of tapirs
It is necessary to confirm if tapirs are still present or not in many areas throughout their range. If tapirs have been extirpated from some areas, the key causal factors should be identified. The main threats to areas where tapirs are present should also be detected. Survey techniques and methods should be standardized so that results are comparable in time and between sites. Tapir surveys are needed in some the areas within available potential habitat that were mentioned in the country profiles. Baseline status surveys are urgently needed in regions of Ecuador, El Salvador, Colombia, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Mexico. More specific conservation action recommendations should be a result from these surveys.
III. Population assessments and monitoring
In most countries at least the key areas where tapirs are still present have already been identified. However, there are still very few tapir density estimates available. Population estimates presented in this document have been based mostly on the known or estimated areas of potential tapir habitat available in a given region or country, and on the tapir densities estimated by Williams (1984) for a tropical dry forest in Costa Rica and by Fragoso (1991b) for a tropical moist forest in Belize. As mentioned in the text, the population estimates reported in this document are just rough approximations, and should be regarded with great care. It is likely that some areas with habitat currently lack tapirs, and it is possible also that the density estimates used are not indicative of other populations. Thus, it is vital to obtain reliable density and population estimates for key habitats (e.g., cloud forests, tropical dry forest, tropical moist forests) and areas in each country.
Estimates should be obtained for areas with different circumstances. For instance, it would be important to obtain data for areas which have been known to be subject to hunting and areas where there has been no hunting; and likewise for logged areas and non-logged areas. Consideration should also be given to the amount of tapir habitat available, and to the possibility of detecting habitat fragmentation and edge effects which may affect tapir populations in some way. Efforts should be made to obtain, whenever possible, more detailed demographic data (e.g., information on sex and age classes) than just tapir numbers. It is important that a sustained effort in obtaining these sort of data is maintained, so that long-term monitoring can be achieved. This information could be the basis to establish more informed decisions for the management of tapir populations.
IV. Human exploitation and tapir-human relations
Tapirs have a low reproductive rate, hence their populations are very susceptible to hunting. This situation, and the lack of population studies, indicate that for the time being, non-subsistence hunting of tapirs should be banned. Enough resources and trained personnel should be allocated to enforce hunting regulations. Where tapirs are found to be an important part of the diet of a subsistence society, hunting should be monitored and carefully regulated. Ideally these should be by means of self-imposed regulations which restrict over-harvesting. Where tapir populations have been affected by habitat loss, even traditional harvests may pose severe threat.
In areas where exploitation of tapirs is identified as a possible threat for their survival, quantitative studies of hunting, in order to assess its impact, should be carried out. It is also important to assess the social and cultural significance of tapir populations for rural and indigenous people, as these may be key to the conservation of the species. Losing tapir populations may not only have biological and economic consequences for these people, but it may also have cultural implications.
V. Regional land-use planning, protected areas, and corridors
The greatest priority for the conservation of Baird's tapir is to maintain the continuity and integrity of the larger wilderness areas in southern Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. These are the areas where there is greatest potential of having large viable populations of large species like the tapir which demand more space. Moreover, many of these regions are rich in species endemism. With probably only one exception – the forests in the Tehuantepc Isthmus (shared among the Mexican states of Oaxaca, Veracruz, and Chiapas), the large tracts of tapir habitat are all shared between two or more countries. Some of these areas are (approximately, from north to south):
- the Maya forests (E Chiapas, Campeche, Quintana Roo, El Peten, and Belize)
- the Moskita (E Honduras and N Nicaragua)
- Parque para la Paz (Nicaragua and Costa Rica)
- La Amistad (Cordilleras de Talamanca and Chirriquí in Costa Rica and Panama, respectively)
- Darién-Chocó (Panama and Colombia)
- the southern part of the Biogeographic Choco, Nariño-Esmeraldas (SW Colombia and NW Ecuador)
There are already protected areas established in most of the main tapir habitat areas in the region, but some are still in need of protection and some (protected and not protected) are in the process of being fragmented from the main areas of habitat. In order to increase the chance of survival of tapir populations it is also important to link the habitat and conservation areas that have been isolated or fragmented. This may be achieved with the establishment of additional protected areas in key places – creating protected corridors – but other land-use strategies may also be appropriate. Since productive agricultural land is limited in much of the region, protected areas should not be the sole mechanism by which in-situ conservation is promoted. For instance, in some situations this could be done by favoring land-uses potentially more advantageous for tapirs (e.g. agroforestry), and restricting others more detrimental (e.g. habitat burning and cattle ranching). Additionally, free ranging of feral ungulates should be controlled, as they are often vectors of diseases (e.g., equine encephalitus) which prove fatal to wild ungulate populations. Thus, comprehensive regional land-use planning is central to the conservation prospects of the species, and biodiversity, in these countries. Very importantly, since most of the key areas for tapir conservation are shared by two or more countries, international collaboration in this process is essential.
Although there has been significant progress in the last decade, the coverage and effectiveness of the protected areas systems in each of the countries in the region is variable. Unfortunately, there are still many areas just protected on paper. This is often because the institutions responsible for their management lack the necessary finances and trained human resources. Also, in some countries the legal mechanisms and institutional framework available for the protection of biological diversity and natural areas are still not fully developed, and limit the potential for success. These are restrictions which need to be overcome.
VI. Creation of economic incentives for communities in habitat areas
Economic incentives for people living in or near the main tapir habitat areas should be developed so that their need to transform tropical forests and other tapir habitats, or to exploit tapir populations is reduced. In particular, it is important that development programs demonstrate the benefits to local communities of protecting tropical forests and wildlife populations, and how to use these resources wisely. Grass-roots projects of this type should be an integral part of all protected areas in the region. Opportunities for cooperation between protected areas and local people should be encouraged to develop community based conservation strategies.
VII. Environmental education and public awareness
There is a paramount need for environmental education, at all levels, and public awareness campaigns to support tapir conservation activities. Programs about the important role which tapirs play in forest ecology, their interesting natural history, and the need to insure their survival for future generations, should be targeted to both people in habitat countries, and non-habitat countries, where often many of the key decisions affecting biological diversity conservation are made. In habitat countries, programs should be directed both to rural and urban populations. Particular attention should be given to decision-makers, as their environmental values and perceptions may determine the outcome of their judgements, and thus of tapir conservation.
The conservation of this species and potential for population recovery depends primarily upon political and socio-cultural reactions. The people living in these areas and the governments which are in place, must be aware of the importance of saving this species and other endangered species of wildlife from extinction. Government and non-governmental organization programs should work with impoverished rural populations to educate about tapirs through feasible environmental conservation programs. Indeed the reason why so many plans have failed is because there is often not a locally, regionally, or nationally recognized entity to endorse them.
VIII. Captive breeding for education and research
Tapir reintroduction programs are not recommended in the foreseeable future. The cost and risks of reintroducing tapirs outweigh any potential benefit, and the conservation prospects of the species would not be improved in any way. Despite this, it is considered that tapir captive breeding programs can be important, fostering tapir conservation by enhancing public awareness and environmental education programs as well a through scientific research. Zoos holding tapirs, especially those in non-habitat countries, could (and should) attract funds and other types of support for tapir habitat and in-situ tapir conservation activities. Since the captive population of Baird's tapir is larger in non-habitat countries, consideration should be given to repatriate some animals to zoos in habitat countries. This would eliminate the need of extracting animals from the wild, and would allow integration of solitary individuals in some Mesoamerican zoos into the reproductive pool of the species. Additionally, more zoos in the region would be able to exhibit the species, reinforcing local conservation education programs. Where necessary, technical or financial assistance should be provided to zoos in the region, so that they may expand their capabilities.
It is highly desirable that demographic management with sound scientific basis is applied to the entire captive population of Baird's tapir. Mesoamerican zoos holding tapirs should establish cooperative links among themselves and with zoos holding tapirs in other countries.
IX. Personnel training and improvement of access to scientific information
Despite important efforts, there is still a deficit of trained personnel in protected areas management, wildlife management, and conservation assessment techniques in the countries where Baird's tapir is native. It is necessary to expand the number of qualified people in these areas. Training would result in institutional strengthening of government and non-governmental organizations working in the region. Training is important at all levels; in particular, technical training for park guards and rangers, protected area managers, field biologists, wildlife managers, and environmental educators, as well as training at MSc and PhD level for professionals in these and other disciplines.
X. Research
Although basic research is of great importance, special consideration should be given to answer applied questions which may help improve the management and conservation of the species. Key research questions include issues outlined in the previous paragraphs and the ones described below.
Development and standardization of population estimation techniques based on the use of signs of tapir presence (tracks, trails, feces). Calibration of population indices obtained with such techniques by comparing them with other estimates (e.g., from line transect data) and tapir populations of known size (e.g., in sites where telemetry studies are conducted) is important.
Assessments of the effects of hunting and logging on tapir populations.
Determinations of habitat use by tapirs in landscapes of different characteristics, assessing their minimum habitat requirements, and their ability to use corridors and different types of agroforestry systems and plantations.
Investigate the ecological and behavioral strategies of tapirs to cope in environments with scarce or no superficial water. Determine whether tapir populations can be augmented in xeric localities by improving the availability of water (e.g., providing artificial ponds).
Development of non-invasive techniques (perhaps using feces) which may allow data collection on the sex, reproductive status, and other physiological information of animals in the wild.
Determine if, and where, Baird's tapir and other tapir species (mountain tapir or lowland tapir) are found in sympatry in Colombia or Ecuador. Areas of tapir sympatry would clearly be of great scientific and conservation importance.
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CITATION:
Brooks, Daniel M.; Bodmer, Richard E.; Matola, Sharon (compilers). 1997. Tapirs - Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. (English, Spanish, Portuguese.) IUCN/SSC Tapir Specialist Group. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. viii + 164 pp.
Online version: http://www.tapirback.com/tapirgal/iucn-ssc/tsg/action97/cover.htm
Copyright © 1997 International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
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