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Tapir Conservation
The Newsletter of the IUCN/SSC Tapir Specialist Group
Volume 9, Number 1, June 1999
See Table of Contents
All countries from which we have reports are listed. The arrangement is generally north-to-south beginning with the Americas and continuing to Asia. Please help by sending in reports from the country in which you work. Population estimates have been omitted this issue due to lack of accurate information, as much more research is needed. Reports are welcomed by the editors.
IUCN Categories:
México
Baird's Tapir (Tapirus bairdii)
Eduardo Naranjo is finishing coursework for his Ph.D. at the University of Florida at Gainesville and returning to México to concentrate on his dissertation research. For this project, he will capture and radio-collar six tapirs in the Lacandon forest of Chiapas. Funding for the first six tapirs has been obtained, and additional funding is being sought to extend the number of tapirs collared. Peccaries will also be radio-collared for study.
Eduardo J. Naranjo
enaranjo@sclc.ecosur.mx
Guatemala
Baird's Tapir (Tapirus bairdii)
Sharon Matola reports having seen tapir tracks in the Sierra de Las Minas, near Motagua Valley at an elevation of over 3000 meters. There has been some discussion on Tapir Talk recently about high elevation sightings of Baird's tapir sign.
Sharon Matola
BelizeZoo@btl.net
Belize
Baird's Tapir (Tapirus bairdii)
The Chalillo Scheme
The most robust populations of Baird's tapir found in Belize are under determined threat by the proposed development of a dry season storage dam. The flooding of the area proposed would eradicate 90% of the riparian vegetation found there, and this is the very type of habitat which provides ample food sources for herbivores. José Fragoso found through his fieldwork in Belize in the 1980s that this riparian or floodplain vegetation was the preferred food for tapirs. This has been confirmed from later fieldwork. Feces collected and analysed were found to contain remains of herbaceous floodplain vegetation only. These findings reinforce the important role that floodplain habitat plays for the preservation of this endangered species in the central Maya Mountains. Unfortunately, the area slated for the proposed dam is not replicated in other area of Belize. It appears to be the single most important habitat for wildlife populations in the country.
Proposal developed
Proposal for Vegetation Study in Threatened Central American Tapir, Tapirus bairdii, habitat in Belize, Central America
In this region of the central Maya Mountains of Belize, a healthy population of T. bairdii is sustained within two remote Protected Areas, Chiquibul National Park and Chiquibul Forest Reserve, both having ample food sources for herbivores. Robust vegetation profile is due to the dynamics of the river network, experiencing frequent and aggressive floods during the rainy season, six months each year. As a result of these floods, the riparian vegetation flourishes and is preferred food for herbivores, containing no toxins, growing fast and prolific on the sun-drenched river edges.
However, at this time, this unique ecosystem is under threat from a proposed hydro project. Should the storage dam and reservoir be developed, this riparian zone, so necessary for sustaining the remaining populations of T. bairdii, would be inundated.
It has been noted, after eight years of field investigations in this area, that this specific type of vegetation is not found in similar growth profiles along other Belize river systems. One species, known to be a food plant for T. bairdii, collected in 1995 and subsequently sent to botanists at Missouri Botanical Gardens, was discovered to be a new species record for the country, Tripsacum andersonni.
It is hoped that by collecting samples of the vegetation and having them classified by working with a botanist at Selby Botanical Gardens, Florida, a strong argument could be put forth noting that the unique vegetation profile of this river system defines the base of rich biodiversity found there, and therefore should remain protected and not altered.
Do note that implementing the above-mentioned dam scheme has not been fully accepted or approved by the Government of Belize (GOB). Further data from this area, suggesting that it is unique within the country's environmental profile, could contribute to seeing this region preserved into the next millennium.
Sharon Matola
Director, Belize Zoo and
Tropical Education Center
Chair, Tapir Specialist Group
BelizeZoo@btl.net
Tapir attacks canoe
Edited from Tapir Talk
Thursday, 20 May 1999
Sharon Matola
BelizeZoo@btl.netBelizeZoo@btl.net
Costa Rica
Baird's Tapir (Tapirus bairdii)
Charles and Sonia Foerster report: March 1999
A complete report of the Foersters' March, 1999, trip to Corcovado National Park, written by Sonia Foerster, DVM, can be found on the Tapir Gallery web site at http://www.tapirback.com/tapirgal/bairds/foerster/99trip1.htm
Proyecto Danta, the Baird's Tapir Project, began in 1994 as Charles Foerster's Masters thesis project. The plan was to capture and radiocollar five tapirs, learning what he could about their basic ecology. After eighteen months it seemed a waste to remove the collars, so additional funding was procured and the project expanded. Corcovado National Park contains the largest remaining tract of lowland rainforest in central America, and is estimated to hold approximately 300 Baird's tapirs.
Objectives for the March trip were to change the collars on seven animals before their batteries were spent, collar two offspring of previously-collared females, train two new field assistants, conduct ultrasound tests on immobilized females, obtain more detailed monitoring data on the anesthetic protocol used previously, collect fecal samples for possible pregnancy determnation assay, and to work with a filming company commissioned by National Geographic.
Charles preceded the rest of the team by three weeks, spending that time to monitor tapir movements and formulate capture plans, and to train the two new assistants, Khanaki Caballero and Ricardo Rodriguez, both of Costa Rica. On 3 March, the entire team assembled in Corcovado National Park.
The transrectal ultrasound was practiced first on a male, Flash, who has been part of the project since 1995. The team was able to identify some of Flash's accessory sex glands in the process. They also collected more detailed anesthetic monitoring data than in previous years, and took the first of several sets of dental impressions made on the trip. These will be used to attempt to identify the ages of the animals and to contribute data on tooth eruption and wear. The Foersters are requesting any information that can be provided on correlating tapir dentition and age - particularly the ages at which various molars and premolars erupt.
One tapir was found to be pregnant. An ultrasound was perfomed on Big Mama, who has also been part of the project since 1995, and who has probably produced three offspring while collared. By her test, she was judged to be 25-30 days pregnant. An 8 mm ebryo was seen with a visible heartbeat. Big Mama was most likely impregnated when she went into heat directly after giving birth to her current calf, named Dedo. The young calf was present at the anesthesia and provided opportunity for further observation of monther-calf interactions. The ultrasonographer for the trip was Dr. Robin Radcliffe of Fossil Rim Wildlife Center, assisted by Dr. Rolfe Radcliffe, veterinary equine surgeon of the University of Minnesota.
Nine tapirs were immobilized, several collars were changed, and two offspring of collared females were old enough to receive collars. In addition to ultrasound and dental impressions, the usual round of samples were taken: blood, feces, skin, hair and ticks.
Sonia reports very positively on working with the British film team, Imago Films, commissioned by National Geographic to film an environmental series on a number of different species for television. Excellent footage was obtained of tapirs and numerous other animals, and a flyover provided evidence of how the land dries and deteriorates when forest is allowed to be cleared (contrasting the park with the area just outside). Besides shooting in Corcovado, the team also filmed at La Marina Zoo just north of San Jose. Here they were able to get close-ups of tapirs in a semi-natural environment that included a large pool.
Baird's tapir posters donated by Rick Barongi were distributed by the Foersters along with a conservation message in Spanish. The Foersters' new field assistants, Khanaki Caballero and Ricardo Rodriguez are Guaymy Indians who live on a reservation on the Panamanian border. Khanaki has expressed a great interest in educating the public about tapirs. He says with dismay that the children on the reservation do not know what tapirs are. He is interested in writing a children's book on the subject, and both Rolfe Radcliffe and Sonia Foerster have committed to helping with this. Funds are being sought.
Objectives for the continuation of the Baird's Tapir Project include developing a way to attach transmitters to young tapirs (one month old), returning in June to loosen the collars of the two juveniles if needed, continuing to work with a geneticist on DNA analysis, processing bloodwork and other samples, attempting fecal steroid assay for pregnancy determination, and creating and publishing a children's book on tapirs in Spanish. The next group of animals that will need collar changes will be immobilized in spring of 2000.
The Foersters report some disturbing observations involving ecotourism. This can be seen in the greatly increased size of the town of Puerto Jimenez, the largest town near the research site. At the site itself, changes were noted. Sonia reports: "The Sirena Station . . . now has solar panels providing electricity most of the day. They also finished the construction of the new buildings meant to accommodate more tourists, researchers and school groups. . . . The new accommodations are very comfortable; however, it is contradictory to see so much money go into new buildings when a recent budget cut left them with only one park guard, a cook and two volunteers to care for the entire station. To me this translates to the fact that the park guards are so busy catering to the needs of tourists, making sure bathrooms are clean and meals are provided, that they cannot possibly patrol the surrounding areas."
Charles and Sonia Foerster
Baird's Tapir Project
1511-1/2 Slatterville Road [New address: 1105 Ellis Hollow Road]
Ithaca, NY 14850
CRFoerster@aol.com
SHernz@aol.com
Mathias Tobler studies Baird's tapir in montane cloud forests
Swiss student, Mathias Tobler, is in Costa Rica pursuing a study of Baird's tapir. In the next few months he hopes to learn more about the habitat use of T. bairdii in montane cloudforests at elevations between 2600 and 3200 m. From the field he took part in a discussion on Tapir Talk, requesting information to further his study. He also replied to a question posed on Tapir Talk regarding elevations at which Baird's tapir has been found. Tobler has personally encountered tracks and feces up to an elevation of 3300 m. in the Mount Chiripó area. "Some of the local people in Villa Mills told me that they have seen tracks and feces at higher elevations in the paramo." Naranjo and Vaughan encountered tracks at 3620m.
Contact:
Mathias Tobler
matobler@student.ethz.ch
Panama
Baird's Tapir (Tapirus bairdii)
See report under "From Captivity."
CONTACTS
Chair: Patrícia Medici
Deputy Chair: Sheryl Todd
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