COORDINATOR: MsC. Candidate PATRÍCIA MEDICI

IPÊ - INSTITUTO DE PESQUISAS ECOLÓGICAS
(Ecological Research Institute)

FIELD REPORT: 5TH ROUND OF CAPTURES - MARCH 2000

INTRODUCTION: For the past three years, my team and I have been capturing and radio-collaring lowland tapirs (Tapirus terrestris) in Morro do Diabo State Park and the surrounding landscape (the Pontal do Paranapanema Region in the extreme west of São Paulo State, Brazil). The main objective today is to investigate the tapirs’ potential as “landscape detectives” — that is, the tapirs show us the most used dispersal routes and pathways in the landscape, and thus the potential areas to be conserved and restored as wildlife corridors. The project has caught and radio-collared eight animals so far, and has collected much data. This data is in the process of preliminary analysis. I was able to use five of these eight animals as landscape detectives, as they frequently wander outside the large forest source which is Morro do Diabo State Park. They normally cross open areas (pastureland) to reach the nearest forest fragments. I suggest that these individuals use the smaller fragments as “stepping stones” during their temporary movements outside main forest sources.

Heidi Frohring (left) with Patrícia Medici, March 2000.

Specific objectives of this study include describing and mapping these dispersal routes through the landscape. Preliminary information about the tapirs’ dispersal behavior has shown that this large and, to some extent generalist mammal, still survives in very small forest patches, mainly because it is able to exploit surrounding resources and move long distances between fragments. It is necessary to restore and conserve the most used dispersion routes or corridors, keeping landscape connectivity and, therefore, the metapopulation scenario for this large keystone species in its threatened ecosystem.

During the past three years, I have mainly captured tapirs inside Morro do Diabo State Park. Only two of the eight radio-collared animals were caught outside of the park’s limits, inside the Agrarian Reform settlement by the west border of the protected area. During 2000, I intend to conduct four rounds of captures and radio-collar at least 10 more animals. From 2000 onward, I will concentrate my field efforts on the north edge of the park, and also on the smaller, isolated forest fragments around it.

The fifth round of captures was conducted from the 13th to the 27th of March, 2000. The other three rounds are scheduled for June, September, and December, 2000, but those will only take place if the project can get enough funds to conduct them.

1. to capture at least one male inside the area of the previously radio-collared females (by the west border of the park);
   
2. to recapture Joana, an adult female radio-collared three years ago. We want to recapture her and replace the collar, depending on her health;
   
3. to capture a new animal close to the park’s headquarters;
   
4. to capture new animals near the north edge of the park;
   
5. to capture new animals at Santa Maria, Alcídia, Água Sumida, Ponte Branca, and Tucano forest fragments.
   

In past years, our capture efforts have been concentrated on the west border of the park. That region of the park is important because it is from the west border that the tapirs leave the protected area to visit the Ribeirão Bonito forest fragment (about 1-2 km from the park’s edge), which is located inside one of the largest landless settlements of the Pontal region. Today, we have three radio-collared females living in that area, and according to our preliminary data analysis, there is considerable overlap of their home ranges. An important piece of information is lacking, however, because we have no data on males in that area. For this reason, we want to capture a male by the west border. Another reason to work near the west border is to recapture Joana, the radio-collared adult female. She was first caught in June, 1997, almost three years ago, and our Telonics transmitters are made to last for three years. Joana would be our priority for the March captures.

Another area in which we want to capture additional animals is around the park’s headquarters. We have had two radio-collared tapirs in that area, a male that died two months after the transmitter was installed, and a female from which we had to remove the collar because she had sores on her neck. We still want to have a radio-collared tapir in that area, because here the animals are used to human presence, and could be habituated in the future for behavioral studies.

Regarding the north edge of the park, we want to radio collar animals there because this area is relatively close to three smaller forest fragments around the park. My suggestion is that tapirs also leave the park from that edge and visit the Alcídia, Água Sumida, and Santa Maria fragments. We’ve seen lots of tapir tracks crossing the roads and pasture lands between the park and the forest fragments just mentioned. This would be another area in which we would be able to investigate the tapirs’ potential as “landscape detectives.”

Another way to investigate this would be to capture tapirs inside the Alcídia, Água Sumida, and Santa Maria fragments. We would then be able to find out whether there is movement between the fragments, and also between the fragments and the park.

Ponte Branca and Tucano are two private forest fragments that are not as close to the park, but I believe there is movement of tapirs between them. Since they are fairly close to each other, and our institution has a very good relationship with their owners, this would be a potential area for the establishment of the first corridor in the Pontal region.

FIFTH ROUND OF CAPTURES - MARCH 2000: The funds for this 5th round of captures were provided by Woodland Park Zoo’s Jungle Party Conservation Fund and the Tapir Preservation Fund (anonymous donor and the Ledder Family Charitable Trust). Idea Wild donated all of the necessary Telinject capture equipment. Nellcor USA donated the pulse-oxymeter, a piece of veterinary equipment used to monitor the animals under anesthesia. The field team consisted of six permanent members: myself; Dr. Paulo Rogerio Mangini, the responsible veterinarian; Luiz Homero Gomes Pereira (Homero) and José Maria de Aragão (Zezinho), two field assistants who have worked for the project since its beginning; Mariana Andrade, a trainee; and Heidi Frohring, our project’s representative at Woodland Park Zoo. Two others participated during the beginning of the capture round, Eliane Ribeiro, a researcher starting another tapir project at Caetetús Ecological Station in the center of São Paulo State, and another trainee, a vet student named Paula.

A complete report is presented below:

03/13/2000 to 03/16/2000: The field work begins. During the first three days, I talked with the field assistants to determine where to dig the pitfall traps and where to build tree platforms. We also spent some time in the forest checking the previously-established salt bait stations. During the first two weeks of March, the field assistants Homero and Zezinho had set up salt bait stations and had begun locating Joana via radio telemetry. At the bait stations by the north border of the park there was no activity at all, but we found tapir tracks leading to a trail into the forest. This pathway seemed to be used frequently by the tapirs. The bait stations by the west border were, as always, covered with tracks. During my discussions with the field assistants, I told them the plan for the entire year’s captures, and we decided that during this first round of 2000 we would concentrate our efforts on recapturing Joana, on the capture of a new male inside Joana’s area, and on the capture of new animals close to the park’s headquarters, and by the north edge. In order to accomplish our goals, we have had to make each move carefully, step by step. We planned to leave the smaller forest fragments for the capture rounds later in the year. During this fifth round of captures we planned to utilize three different strategies: pitfalls, shooting at a distance from platforms high in the trees, and shooting from the ground. Pitfalls would be used near the north edge to capture new animals, and by the west border to capture a male in the same location; platforms would be used by the west border to recapture Joana and also as an alternative to capture a new male; and, shooting from the ground, an alternate strategy to try to recapture Joana after tracking her signal and approaching at a distance on foot. In both the tracking and platform scenarios, we would use a dart gun. In the area close to the headquarters we planned to use platforms and we would also be shooting from the ground. There are patches of mango and guava trees close to the lodge, and we wanted to monitor these areas at night to look for tapirs. Distance shooting would require a different drug protocol, because we wanted the anesthetics to have effect as fast as possible to avoid problems. I had eight unused collars available. During the first days of the capture round, Dr. Paulo Mangini was still in Curitiba, where he lives, preparing for the field round and working on the immobilization protocol. His arrival on March 17th officially began the proceedings.

03/17/2000: Once Dr. Mangini arrived, we organized all of our equipment and held a meeting of the team to finalize planning. Another purpose for the meeting was so that Dr. Mangini could explain the capture protocol (i.e., silence and roles) and describe the function of all of the equipment to our trainees and visitors. That night we began to attempt captures near the lodge. At 8:00 p.m., the two field assistants and Dr. Mangini began driving with the pistol and dart guns in search of tapirs near the mango and guava trees, while the rest of us stayed at the lodge, ready to leave at the first notice of a capture. However, Dr. Mangini and the assistants returned shortly because the new Telinject darts seemed to not work with the butane gas that Dr. Mangini uses to pressurize them. He fixed the problem and they went out again, searching by vehicle until 6:00 a.m. . . . but without luck.

03/18/2000: We checked the bait stations. It had rained the previous night, so it was difficult to determine if there had been any tapir activity, because the rain washes away both the bait and tracks. However, it looked as though there had been no activity on the north border. The team dug the first pitfall in the west border area near the platform we had already built to try to capture Joana. Digging pitfalls is very difficult work! While the field assistants dug in the heat of the afternoon, we set up a camera trap in the middle of a well-used tapir trail to find out whether Joana or other tapirs were using it, and we checked other areas for activity. In the evening, Dr. Mangini, Homero, and Zezinho went to check on a bait station near a dry lake bed close to the lodge where we had seen many tapir tracks on a previous day. Guava fruits were everywhere, and the tapirs were feeding on them. They heard two distinct tapir vocalizations, made by a mother and calf, and waited for them to come closer in order to attempt to dart the female. After a few hours, the female and her calf returned, and were only two meters away from the team, but Dr. Mangini was unable to dart because of the thick vegetation that stood between them. Shortly thereafter, the mother and calf disappeared into the jungle. The team slept in the car, taking turns trying to nap and watching for tapirs. But again they had no luck. During this time the rest of us, fully dressed in boots and gear, waited at the lodge for a runner to tell us to come to the capture site and bring the gear — collars, measuring tape, etc.

03/19/2000: Another pitfall was dug near the west border, but further into the interior of the forest.  Here there were many trails and tapir latrines, piles of feces loaded with palm seeds. I got strong signals from Joana’s radio near where the second pitfall was located. She was around, so in the evening we decided to change plans and went to spend the night by the west border to try to catch either Joana or a new male. Homero and Dr. Mangini spent the night up on the platform, while the rest of us stayed in the cars. Homero had a radio receiver with him on the platform that would tell him if Joana was approaching, and I had another one in the car. I intermittently tried to get signals from the three radio-collared tapirs, Joana, Paulete, and Chu-Chu. Joana was around briefly, but her signal faded, as the battery was on its last legs. Paulete was near the river about 100 meters away.  It was a long night. Joana never showed up at the bait station. At about 6:30 a.m., Dr. Mangini and Homero came down from the platforms and we checked the pitfalls. No tapirs.

3/20/00: Another night at the west border. Dr. Mangini and Homero spent the night on the tree platform while the others stayed in the car. At some point near 1:00 a.m., Dr. Mangini and Homero noticed that Joana’s signal indicated she was moving towards the road to reach the river. They got Zezinho and followed Joana to where she would cross the road, waiting for her about an hour and a half. She was traveling with a sub-adult or smaller tapir, either her offspring or a male. As soon as she reached the road, Joana stopped and vocalized. Her traveling companion was near Zezinho, Homero, and Dr. Mangini, but Joana turned and ran back into the forest, and her companion soon followed. She had smelled or heard the field team. We called it a night as far as trying to capture Joana, and drove back to the lodge. But Dr. Mangini and Homero continued to search for other tapirs, driving the field car and walking the trails near the lodge until first light. But in the end, they found no tracks and no tapirs.

03/21/2000: We spent another night in the car, with Dr. Mangini and Homero on the platform. No signal from Joana. We concluded that she must have run deep into the interior of the forest, with no intention of returning to the west border road. That night, however, Paulete was around. But the result was the same: no captured tapirs. They are certainly an evasive species.

03/22/2000: The field assistants and I dig a third pitfall near the bait station on the west border, giving us three chances to capture a tapir in a pit trap. We spend the night in the cars again. No tapirs. Every morning after a night in the car we go into town to have coffee and bread at a place called Bar Conti, looking disheveled. We are a lovely sight. The proprietor is a very nice guy and a good friend of mine. The same people are there every morning.

03/23/2000: Today brings a change in methodology. No more west border nights in vehicles or nights on the platform. We had to conclude that Joana was not coming. Human scent, vehicles, and noise were probably disturbing the tapirs, and they were not coming to the road or passing near the platform. We felt that our presence here was hindering our chance of capturing tapirs in the three pitfalls in the area. We decided to try the area close to the lodge again, and Dr. Mangini, Zezinho, and Homero spent the night near the dry lake bed bait station where there was a fruiting guava tree. A solitary tapir, thought by the team most likely to be a male, based on size, moved toward the salt and palm nut bait. The chance for a capture looked good, but then Dr. Mangini suffered equipment failure when he finally tried to shoot from a distance. The barrel dislodged from the pistol dart gun, but the tapir remained completely calm. By the time the team got the pistol dart ready again, the tapir had crossed the marsh and gone back to the forest. Later the mother and calf again came to feed on guavas. This presented another opportunity for darting, but this time the dart was stuck in the barrel. Mother and baby ambled calmly into the forest. The team returned to the lodge disgruntled, but still able to laugh about the situation. No more tapirs came that night, and at first light we checked the three pitfalls as usual. Once again, no tapirs.

03/24/2000: The team decided to set up a platform in the guava tree near the dry lake bed, as Homero wanted to try a capture from there. Of all the team members, he is the best shot. Meanwhile, Dr. Mangini and Zezinho stayed in the car and the rest of us waited at the lodge. At about 10:00 p.m., the same mother and calf arrived. Homero shot, but the dart bounced off her upper leg. In discussing this later, we concluded that Homero had used too much pressure. Mother and baby tapir again stayed calm during the shot. The team remained on the site. At 3:00 a.m., the dam and calf showed up again. This time there was no pressure in the pistol — the CO² cartridge was empty! Homero ran to the car to get another cartridge, but when he got back to the site the tapirs were gone. The team called it a night. Everyone was tired.

03/25/2000: By this point, time was not on our side. Only one more night was left. Early in the morning, we went to check the three pitfalls. We checked the two close to the road, but found no tapirs in the pits. Then we went to check the pitfall that was deeper in the forest. I approached the pit and turned to Dr. Mangini. Some of the roofing tiles were broken, and I suspected there was a tapir inside. Of course, Dr. Mangini, Heidi, and I were all very excited! But in the pit was no tapir. Instead, there was a fairly small white-lipped peccary looking up at us. All of a sudden we heard the rest of the peccary group. They were gnashing their molars, making quite a racket. We couldn’t see them, but we could certainly hear them. The peccary had only destroyed a portion of the roof tiles covering the pit, and that could be remedied later. We left to alert Homero and Zezinho. Dr. Mangini and I had a modified radio collar we planned to put on the peccary. This was a collar similar to our Telonics collars, but this was one of several we had had constructed locally out of leather to be used with radios donated (minus collars) by Rudi Rudran of the Smithsonian Institution in 1996. We brought all the necessary gear — collars, equipment, darts, drugs — to the pitfall on the west border with the peccary in it. But just as we were preparing to anaesthetize the peccary, Zezinho and Homero picked up a strong signal (very loud and clear) from Paulete. The signals were emitted at short intervals, which meant she was resting; we decided to follow her and try to dart her with the pistol. One of the pictures taken previously by the camera trap had showed a radio-collared tapir which could have been either Joana or Paulete, as both of them are adult females, about the same size. And the tapir in the photo had sores near the collar. When I saw this, I decided that we would capture Paulete if we had the chance. I wanted to make sure which was the wounded tapir and treat the sores. Dr. Mangini prepared the darts and the pistol, and Homero and Zezinho disappeared into the forest radio-tracking Paulete. After awhile, Zezinho returned. Homero had darted her while she was sleeping, and the immobilization cocktail had injected. After she was darted, she ran, and Homero following at a distance with the radio receiver. I ran to the car to get more supplies while the rest of the group went with Zezinho in search of Homero and the tapir. I came back to the point at which we had separated, and in a few minutes Zezinho returned to pick me up. We trudged through the forest (thorny lianas and spiny aloe plants), and in about five minutes we found the group with the sleeping tapir, Paulete. A coat had been placed over her head and eyes to help keep her calm, and Dr. Mangini was already doing manipluations. The pulse-oxymeter had been installed on her ear and everyone in the group was working. We could see that it had been Paulete who had the sores on her neck. There was a superficial sore right above the collar on the sagittal crest, but it was not serious. There was no infection. We took the collar off and found there were lots of ticks underneath. Dr. Mangini treated the area, and the collar was reinstalled. According to our timetable, Paulete has one more year to wear it. I collected ectoparasites. Dr. Mangini and Homero took a blood sample. After awhile, Paulete started to stir, and we all jumped back. We took the pulseox off and moved away. Dr. Mangini administered an extra dosage of Ketamine (1.0 ml) to give us more time to finish the manipulation. She quieted down. I was unable to take body measurements, since she was not in a deep anesthetic state. Dr. Mangini and I checked her continually, as did the field assistants. The reversal drug was administered and the coat removed from her eyes. In a few minutes she was up and trying to run. She fell, but there were no rivers or water sources around to cause her problems if she fell into them in a compromised state. In a stupor she rested, and ten minutes passed. After that she was up again, more recovered. Then, she crashed through the forest away from us. She had looked pregnant. Her general condition was very good. She looked very healthy.

FINAL COMMENTS: In concluding this report, I would like to discuss some of the reasons we feel that we had poor luck capturing tapirs during this fifth round in March. This time of year is the rainy season in Brazil, especially here in the Pontal region, where the seasons are very distinct. During the rainy season, there are plenty of food resources (e.g. fruits, seedlings, etc.) for the animals in the forest. The tapirs probably do not need to come to the region near the river as often as they do during the dry seasons. If they move less, the chance of capture is lower. In addition, we were trying methodologies that were new to us, such as shooting from high platforms and from the ground. We are used to the pitfalls, and we feel comfortable working with them. As regards shooting from a distance, we are still learning about the new equipment required for that. More practice will be needed between now and the next capture round, which will take place in June, the dry season in the Pontal. At that time, we expect to have a higher rate of success. I believe we may also need more time. Fifteen days is probably a more realistic period, rather than a week to ten days. Unfortunately, one of the difficulties here is that fifteen days is a long time to keep a vet in the field away from his other work. I hope that Joana’s radio battery will last until June, and that we will have another opportunity to recapture her.