Paradise found for Latin America's largest land mammal
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| Mileniusz Spanowics/WCS |
Wildlife
Conservation Society scientists have documented a thriving population of
lowland tapirs -- the strange forest and grassland-dwelling herbivore with the
trunk-like snout -- living in a network of remote national parks spanning the
Peru-Bolivia border. Using a combination of camera traps, along with interviews
with park guards and subsistence hunters, WCS estimates at least 14,500 lowland
tapirs in the region. The population bridges five connected national parks in
northwest Bolivia and southeastern Peru.
The WCS findings were described in the December issue of the
journal Integrative Zoology.
Authors include Robert Wallace, Guido Ayala, and Maria Viscara of WCS's Greater
Madidi-Tambopata Landscape Program.
The
study synthesizes 12 years of research on lowland tapirs in the region.
Together with WCS studies on jaguars, the results underscore the importance of
this protected area complex for the conservation of Latin America's most
charismatic terrestrial wildlife species.
"The
Madidi-Tambopata landscape is estimated to hold a population of at least 14,500
lowland tapirs making it one of the most important strongholds for lowland
tapir conservation in the continent," said the study's lead author Robert
Wallace. "These results underline the fundamental importance of protected
areas for the conservation of larger species of wildlife threatened by hunting
and habitat loss."
The
lowland tapir is the largest terrestrial mammal in South America, weighing up
to 300 kg (661 pounds). Its unusual prehensile proboscis or snout is used to
reach leaves and fruit. Tapirs are found throughout tropical forests and
grasslands in South America. However, they are threatened by habitat loss and
especially unsustainable hunting due to their large size, low reproductive rate
(1 birth every 2-3 years), and ease of detection at mineral licks in the
rainforest. Lowland tapirs are considered Vulnerable by the IUCN.
WCS
collected and systematized 1,255 lowland tapir distribution records in the
region. These records came from research observations and camera trap
photographs as well as interviews with park guards of Madidi, Pilón Lajas and
Apolobamba National Parks in Bolivia, and Bahuaja Sonene and Tambopata National
Parks in neighboring Peru, and subsistence hunters from 19 Takana and Tsimane'
communities.
Camera
trap data revealed that lowland tapir abundance was higher at sites under
protection than sites outside protected areas. At one site sampled over time,
the Tuichi River, camera trapping has revealed that lowland tapir populations
have been recovering following the creation of Madidi National Park in 1995.
Prior to the creation of the park, loggers had hunted heavily in this area.
Madidi
National Park contains 11 percent of the world's birds, more than 200 species
of mammals, 300 types of fish, and 12,000 plant varieties. The 19,000
square-kilometer (7,335 square mile) park is known for its array of altitudinal
gradients and habitats from lowland tropical forests of the Amazon to
snow-capped peaks of the High Andes.
Working
with government partners in Bolivia and Peru, the Greater Madidi-Tambopata
Landscape Conservation Program aims to develop local capacity to conserve the
landscape and mitigate a variety of threats to biodiversity and wildlife
including lowland tapirs, including road construction, logging, unsustainable
natural resource use, and agricultural expansion.
Julie
Kunen, WCS Director of Latin America and Caribbean Programs said: "WCS
commends our government and indigenous partners for their commitment to the
Madidi-Tambopata Landscape. Their dedication is clearly paying off with well-managed
protected areas and more wildlife."
WCS's
conservation research in the Madidi-Tambopata Landscape has been made possible
by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, The John D. and Catherine T.
MacArthur Foundation, the blue moon fund, USAID, the Beneficia Foundation, the
Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund, Woodland Park Zoo, and other generous
supporters.
Source: Wildlife
Conservation Society
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