The Tapir Gallery

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****** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ******

ENDANGERED SPECIES SLAUGHTERED IN NATIONAL PARK
END UP AS BANQUET FOR THE WEALTHY

January 22, 1997

ECUADOR -- Wildlife Ecologist Craig C. Downer of the U.S. and 84-year-old Canadian medical doctor Terry Bassett report that they have witnessed and photographed the remains of a "well-organized poaching" operation in Sangay National Park, Ecuador. The quarry, mountain tapir and white-tailed deer, both protected by law, are killed inside the National Park and packed out to Riobamba, where they are sold to wealthy patrons as gourmet fare for the holiday banquet table.

Downer, of the Andean Tapir Fund and the IUCN/SSC Tapir Specialist Group, and Bassett, of Fauna and Flora International, discovered signs of the poaching between November 7 and 14, 1996, while on expedition to locate radio-collared tapirs for a conservation study. Their guide appeared to know who the poachers were, but would not divlulge their names. He verified that the operations had been ongoing for at least three years. Poachers are most active in the weeks prior to major holidays such as Christmas, New Year's Day, Lent and Easter. Authorities typically refuse to act or are unable to act due to lack of manpower, funding or cooperation.

The IUCN has recently received notice of this situation, but has not officially endorsed a publicity strategy. The mountain tapir, a primitive 350-pound relative of the horse and rhinoceros, may become extinct within 5 to 10 years, and is already absent from much of its former range. Peru, Ecuador and Colombia are the only countries in which it has been found.

Poaching is only an additional threat to this highly endangered species already at risk from habitat destruction. Encroachment by humans, burning of the landscape and overgrazing by cattle are prevalent, despite being prohibited within the Park.

Photos of illegal mountain tapir slaughter from earlier expeditions can be seen at http://www.tapirback.com/tapirgal/mountain/poaching.htm.


Sheryl Todd
Member, IUCN/SSC Tapir Specialist Group
President, Tapir Preservation Fund

tapir@tapirback.com

What you can do
to help preserve the mountain tapir species.