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TAPIR TALK Digest 19 March 2000 - Vol. 4, No. 12 The Tapir Preservation Fund The Tapir Gallery: http://www.tapirback.com/tapirgal/ Tapir Talk Archives and Info: http://www.tapirback.com/tapirgal/tt.htm E-mail: tapir@tapirback.com __________________________________________________________________ Contents of this issue 1. Thanks for responding to the medical question 2. Has anyone found tapir damage on plantations? 3. Emilio Constantino a. A shaman's story: "The Lord of the Place of the Dantas" b. No T. pinchaque found in the Paramo de Cruz Verde 4. Question and response - mother chewing baby's ears 5. Congrats & thanks to Heidi, Patricia and Woodland Park Zoo for tapir feature 6. Descriptive word question: male/female/group of tapirs 7. Name of tapir = "tough hide." What's the word? Thanks very much to those who responded to the tapir health problem at the Guayaquil Zoo that I posted the other day. It sounds like Maria is getting quite a bit of support on this. Hope all turns out OK. ~ Sheryl ========================================================= X-Sender: vilapbc@padang.wasantara.net.id (Unverified) Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2000 16:08:03 +0700 To: Tapir@Tapirback.com. From: wilson Novarino <vilapbc@padang.wasantara.net.id> Subject: Tapir Talk X-RCPT-TO: <tapir@gj.net> Dear All, In the first week of March, I went into the field at Payakumbuh (West Sumatra, Indonesia). I got info from local people and a volunteer from the Forestry Department that tapirs have caused damage at the "Uncharia gambir" plantation. I am interesting to know any other plantation in other regions also damaged by Tapir. I'am waiting for your response. best wishes Wilson ========================================================= To: tapir@tapirback.com From: emilio@resnatur.org.co Subject: Story - Tapir Talk Cc: Bcc: X-Attachments: Dear Sheryl, I just found a nice story on the mountain tapir that I will like to share with you and the rest of the tapir people. It was compiled by an Inga leader (Benjamøn Jacanamijoy) who heard it from a shaman of the Inga people, Taita Antonio. The Inga people are descendants of Inca and their ancestral land is located in southern Colombia, where they are recogniced as one of the most experienced people in the use of healing and magical plants. They live in the Sibundoy valley, near La Cocha, a region of strong shamanistic tradition, so the story deals with it. Please note that - Danta is the local and most used name for the tapir. - Taita is the local title for the kurakas or shamans. - Paramo is a tropical andean ecosystem just below the snowline and above the tree line; the mountain tapir is known as danta de paramo because it lives there too. - DantaKunapa means the place for sleeping and giving birth! It has a strong shamanistic content and proves, again, how important are tapirs for Indian cultures. - Malaire means "bad air," a disease caused by accumulation of bad energies in the body, thrown off by evil spirits or by enemies. DantaKunapa Suyumanda Yaya "The Lord of the Place of the Dantas" It was the times when the plants and the animals transmited their powers and knowledge to men during times of hunting and dreaming. One day Taita Yacha Runa, hunter and kuraka of the Inga people, left his home in search of the place of the dantas. Having walked a long time with his dog, named Alkosacha, he was carrying his blow-gun and the bag with the poisoned darts proper to a hunter. He was so concentrated in his thoughts that he didn`t notice he was close by the paramo. Keeping his trail through the frailejones he began to see the Ruku Sacha: the thick and mysterious vegetation that grows in the mountains near by the paramo. While the Taita hunter and his faithful Alkosacha were getting into the mountains near the paramo they began to feel a strange sensation in their bodies, and instantly appeared before their eyes an incredible and beautiful place, where different colors and forms came together with the thick vegetation. There, Taita Yacha Runa, hunter and kuraka, began to see different types of "Vinan": small plants that, as it is said, are able to bring good luck. Those plants with their beautiful leaves formed a multicolored garden. Having seen this, he decided to prune some Vinan leaves and instantly it began to rain and thunder. Then he saw two plants, a small one and a large one; these were the Shishaja, an hallucinogenic plant that, made into a drink, brings you good fortune against your enemies. As he could take only one of the two plants, he thought to take the small one, because he thought that through it he would meet the good spirits. He discarded the large one because he thought that through this one he would go to meet the evil spirits. There he also saw a beautiful lagoon, and around it, for the first time, he discovered the place where the dantas slept. At that moment, and without noticing it, he fell asleep, and through his dreams he began to understand the value of each of the plants he had just seen. He learned that the Vinan were good to obtain and would bring good luck, and that drinking the liquid from the the small Shishaja a person would be taken to the good spirits, thereby avoiding evil. In the same dream he again saw the lagoon, and swiming in it, two ducks, a white one and a yellow one. He took the white duck; even though he could have taken the yellow one also, he left it in its place. After returning home, Taita Yacha Runa met a very old Kuraka. Thinking it was right to do it, he began to tell him what he had seen in the paramo, while he was awake and during his dream. He told the old Kuraka that he had taken all of the items of knowledge that were offered to him in the mountains near the paramo, but that he had left one in the place where he had seen it. It was the yellow duck he had left swiming in the lagoon. As soon as Taita Yacha Runa stoped talking, the old Kuraka spoke: Nokak Kanem DantaKunapa Suyumanda Yaya: "I am the owner and Lord of the place of the Dantas." Of all you heard and saw, you did well in choosing what you wanted, but you should have taken the yellow duck when you were looking at it; the white duck means money and the yellow duck means the gold. You will never see it again, and it will never be yours. That is how Taita Yacha Runa, hunter and Kuraka, discovered the knowledge that was in the place of the dantas. Since then, the dantas have become omens of good times to come, and the hooves of their legs are used to cure the disease of Malaire. About the dog, it is said that it is an animal with the most noble spirit, and because of this, it will accompany man until the end of time. ....................... Story published in: Visiones del Medio Ambiente a traves de tres etnias colombianas; U. Nacional / FEN, 1998. pp. 21-35 ........................ Emilio also reports that he has recently been in the paramos east of Bogotß (Paramo de Cruz Verde) and sadly there were no signs of any mountain tapir there. Best wishes, Emilio ========================================================= I've re-posted two letters from Peter Dickinson's Zoo-Biology e-group. There were several replies posted to this query, but I particularly wanted to re-post the reply by Douglas Richardson, Director of the Rome Zoo, as it considers the problem and solution relative to the tapir's situation in the wild. ~ Sheryl From: "Bjarne Klausen" <b.klausen@odensezoo.dk> To: <zoo-biology@egroups.com> Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2000 08:42:26 +0100 Mailing-List: contact zoo-biology-owner@egroups.com List-Help: <http://www.egroups.com/group/zoo-biology/info.html>, <mailto:zoo-biology-help@egroups.com> Subject: [zoo-biology] Tapir ears.. Dear Group I have an urgent question to the group. During the past 6 years we have had 4 tapir birth. The tapir female has got a very bad habit of sucking the babies ear almost immediately after birth. It almost looks as she uses them to as a handle to lift the baby of the ground. We have tried almost everything to prevent this. We have tried to put almost everything on the baby's ears, but she just licks it of again. Does any of you have any experiences with this and do you have any suggestions how to prevent it. Until weaning the baby looses almost 2 cm. of the ears and it looks bad. We thought we could try to put a third ear on the baby and try to distract the female to use this in stead of the little ones ears. Please, if you have had this problem and especially if you can solve it, get back as soon as possible Bjarne b.klausen@odensezoo.dk ----------------- From: Douglas Richardson <douglas.richardson@bioparco.it> To: "'zoo-biology@egroups.com'" <zoo-biology@egroups.com> Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2000 10:19:47 +0100 Mailing-List: contact zoo-biology-owner@egroups.com Subject: [zoo-biology] Re: Tapir ears.. Dear Bjarne, At London we had a problem with our adult female anoa as she would sometimes lick her calf's anogenital region so much that it would cause a prolapse. I had a couple of very small covered dens built in the corners of her indoor areas for the calves to hide in, and this helped a great deal. My logic was that this species' young are probably hiders, the baby stays hidden while the mother goes off to feed, and she only returns to feed it and give it a quick clean. In a zoo environment, the baby was always visible to her, and so the behaviour became exaggerated; the constant visual presence of the young continued to trigger the licking behaviour. Similar overgrooming has been documented in okapi, another forest ungulate, and creeps and hides for the young can prevent this. I hope this info helps. Douglas Rome Zoo ------------------------- Ed note: Janet Gamble noted similar success with another species of hoofstock (sorry, can't find the letter right now or remember the species) at the Western Plains Zoo, Dubbo, Australia. They kept the mother and baby outdoors rather than in the confines of the stable and it seemed to help. This was also posted on Zoo-Biology ~ Sheryl ========================================================= Date: Sat, 4 Mar 2000 00:13:47 -0800 (PST) From: Anna Snoute <snout@drizzle.com> To: Tapir <tapir@tapirback.com> Subject: for tapir talk X-RCPT-TO: <tapir@gj.net> i'd like to congratulate heidi and patricia for the cool little article in the woodland park zoo (seattle) member magazine! there were some nice pics and info, and then a map of other conservation projects in central and south america. it was a nice little surprise to see it, and other articles (esp. the one about the lemur) in the same series were great too. keep up the good work reaching out to the animal loving public! annemarie ******************************************************************** anna snoute's fine website http://www.snouted.com ******************************************************************** ========================================================= From: Qfamily123@aol.com Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2000 20:10:48 EST Subject: question about tapirs for school report To: tapir@tapirback.com X-RCPT-TO: <tapir@gj.net> Is there a special name for a baby tapir, male and female tapir, and a group of tapirs? Thank you Emily Quintero Grade 3 Ed note: I told Emily the babies are calves, but I don't have the other answers if they exist. ~ Sheryl ========================================================= From: Prtorcnprncess@aol.com Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2000 21:46:03 EST Subject: help(again-I'm so sorry) To: tapir@tapirback.com X-RCPT-TO: <tapir@gj.net> Hello, my name is Melody Cecil and I e-mailed about 2 weeks ago with a question about tapirs. Once again I cannot find the answer to one of the questions. I'm sorry to bother you again but my project is due soon. Here is the question: The name tapir comes frm a Brazilian Indian word meaning "___________" referring to the animal's tough hide. ========================================================= TO POST TO THE GROUP Reply to tapir@tapirback.com - include the words "Tapir Talk" in the subject line. This is also my personal e-mail. If you would like mail to go to Sheryl Todd rather than to the group, DO NOT include the words "Tapir Talk" in the subject line and/or please indicate in the body of the letter that it's personal. To be removed from the list, write to the same address and ask to be removed. You will receive confirmation of removal. =========================================================