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Tapir
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Abstract:
The forests of southeastern Amazonia are highly threatened by disturbances such as fragmentation, understory fires, and extreme climatic events. Large‐bodied frugivores such as the lowland tapir (Tapirus terrestris) have the potential to offset this process, supporting natural forest regeneration by dispersing a variety of seeds over long distances to disturbed forests. However, we know little about their effectiveness as seed dispersers in degraded forest landscapes. Here, we investigate the seed dispersal function of lowland tapirs in Amazonian forests subject to a range of human (fire and fragmentation) and natural (extreme droughts and windstorms) disturbances, using a combination of field observations, camera traps, and light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data. Tapirs travel and defecate more often in degraded forests, dispersing much more seeds in these areas [9,822 seeds per ha/year (CI95% = 9,106; 11,838)] than in undisturbed forests [2,950 seeds per ha/year (CI95% = 2,961; 3,771)]. By effectively dispersing seeds across disturbed forests, tapirs may contribute to natural forest regeneration—the cheapest and usually the most feasible way to achieve large‐scale restoration of tropical forests. Through the dispersal of large‐seeded species that eventually become large trees, such frugivores also contribute indirectly to maintaining forest carbon stocks. These functions may be critical in helping tropical countries to achieve their goals to maintain and restore biodiversity and its ecosystem services. Ultimately, preserving these animals along with their habitats may help in the process of natural recovery of degraded forests throughout the tropics. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/btp.12627 https://www.fauna-flora.org/news/caught-crossfire-tapirs-tiger-territory
By Tim Knight, 5th March 2019
When we hear scientists talking about accidental bycatch, we tend to think of turtles entangled in fishing nets, or an albatross impaled on a longline trawler’s fish hook.A tapir in a tiger snare is the terrestrial equivalent. It is common knowledge that the illegal trade in tiger bones and body parts poses a grave threat to the remaining populations of Asia’s most iconic big cat. But this grisly business also has a detrimental impact on other species that have the misfortune to be caught in the crossfire. Kerinci Seblat National Park in Indonesia is one of the last remaining strongholds of the critically endangered Sumatran tiger. It also harbours a globally important population of the endangered Malay tapir, which is down to an estimated 2,500 adults worldwide. You might imagine that a sizeable, relatively defenceless herbivore would be perfect prey for a voracious apex predator. In fact, fatal encounters appear to be relatively infrequent even though they share the same forest habitat, due to the fact that tigers are largely crepuscular – active at dusk, to you and me – while tapirs are nocturnal. So far so good for the tapir, but it turns out that hungry carnivores are the least of its problems. Tapirs and tigers tend to favour the same network of trails through the forest, especially in the mountains that comprise much of the park. And it is here that the poachers set their lethal wire snares.  *This image is copyright of its original author Tiger patrol team (faces hidden to preserve anonymity) with a heavy-duty wire snare. Credit: FFI/KSNPThese poachers tend to be opportunists; tigers are their primary target, but if they happen to trap a different species, they won’t hesitate to sell it for bush meat. In the case of the tapir, however, the flesh is widely considered haram – forbidden – by the local Muslim population, and this animal currently has little or no value in the local traditional medicine trade – although skulls and bones may be passed off as those of Sumatran rhinoceros. A tapir in a tiger snare is, therefore, the worst possible outcome for both poacher and victim, and a fitting, if depressing, symbol of the wastefulness of this indiscriminate hunting method. To add insult to injury, snares can have a disproportionately serious impact on tapirs, because their relatively slow rate of reproduction makes them less resilient to poaching pressure than a more prolific breeder such as the tiger. The collateral damage inflicted by would-be tiger trappers is undoubtedly a genuine cause for concern, but until now there have been few attempts to quantify these wider impacts, particularly where Malay tapirs are concerned.  *This image is copyright of its original author One of two Malay tapirs rescued from tiger snares within the same month. Credit: FFI/KSNPDespite their large size – an adult male can weigh more than 300 kilos – Malay tapirs are seldom encountered by humans due to their nocturnal nature and preference for deep rainforest habitat, and we know surprisingly little about them, particularly the Sumatran population. They are spectacular, charismatic animals, but have been inexplicably overlooked in Southeast Asia. Thanks to an inspired piece of collaborative research involving Fauna & Flora International (FFI), Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Australia Zoo and the evocatively named University of the Sunshine Coast, that has begun to change. Tiger Protection and Conservation Units have been operating in Kerinci Seblat National Park since 2000. A crucial facet of their anti-poaching work is to conduct routine and intelligence-led forest patrols. Over the years, these crack teams have removed thousands of snares and covered a cumulative distance of over 23,000 kilometres. Kassandra Campbell – a member of the tiger team at Australia Zoo, which has supported the work of the Tiger Protection and Conservation Units since 2004 – was looking for an interesting research project for her degree. She set herself the task of analysing four years of patrol data compiled during a period that was characterised by an alarming spike in tiger and hornbill poaching activity in and around the park. That analysis included exploring the relationships between the frequency of tiger, tapir and snare signs over time, spatial changes around tiger, tapir and snare signs over time and tapir mortality in relation to snare presence over time.  *This image is copyright of its original author Rescuing a powerful and distressed tapir from a snare is a hazardous business. Credit: FFI/KSNPIt is hoped that the results of Kassie’s findings will help to inform management decisions in the park by providing a greater understanding of poaching activity and the consequent threats faced by both tigers and tapirs. We have already seen ample evidence that the anti-poaching activities of the tiger protection teams in Sumatra can benefit other species such as pangolins and helmeted hornbills by disrupting illegal wildlife trade networks. In this instance, it seems clear that snare detection and removal is helping to safeguard tapirs as well as tigers. The Malay tapir is the least studied large herbivore in Sumatra. It’s not easy to conserve a species – or the forest ecosystem it supports – unless you understand its role and its needs. This recently published paper goes some way towards bridging the knowledge gap by shedding new light on what was a grey area. Now, thanks to the collaborative efforts of FFI and our partners, it’s all there in black and white. Armed with the latest information, we are developing plans to ensure the survival of this declining denizen of the deep, dark rainforest. Warning – The video clip below contains upsetting footage of a wild Malay tapir caught accidentally in a poacher’s snare intended for tigers. The traumatised animal was found by one of the park’s tiger protection units during a routine patrol. The team had to work out how to free this 300-kilo beast without endangering themselves or the tapir. Releasing the wrong cable would have allowed the animal to escape with the leg snare still attached, which would probably have resulted in a slow, painful death from gangrene. Fortunately, after a long and painstaking operation, the team succeeded in releasing the cables in the correct order, after which the tapir bolted for the shelter of the forest – severely stressed, but otherwise unharmed. We are hopeful that it made a full recovery, but others are not so lucky; without the intervention of the anti-poaching teams, these snares would take a terrible toll on tigers and other animals that share their habitat. 
Great resource here, the Tapir Specialist Group's virtual library of scientific articles
https://tapirs.org/resources/virtual-lib...Po58ayjntU  (12-08-2019, 05:07 PM)Sully Wrote: Great resource here, the Tapir Specialist Group's virtual library of scientific articles Great find thanks for sharing
Forty thousand years ago — 28,000 years before the Neolithic Revolution saw hunter-gatherers settle down and farm, 36,000 before the first pyramids took shape, and 39,000 before the Norman conquest of England — humans took shelter in a cave in what is today the Indonesian province of East Kalimantan on the island of Borneo. And there they did something remarkable: they painted. They painted animals. In what’s been called the “oldest figurative rock art in the world” (the images are at least 5,000 years older than paintings found in the caves of Timpuseng in Sulawesi, also in Indonesia, or Chauvet in France) these early Borneans painted banteng, a type of wild cattle, and other animals, including another large mammal that is most likely a Malayan tapir.
If you know anything about Borneo’s wildlife, you might pause here and think: “Hey, what? Borneo doesn’t have tapirs.” And that’s true. Today it doesn’t, but recent archaeological evidence proves that Malayan tapirs (Tapirus indicus) did exist in Borneo thousands of years ago — and may have even survived into the modern era.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Malayan tapir skull on display at the Museum of Osteology. Image by JimJones1971 via Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0)Given this, some are calling on officials in Borneo to do something really wild: bring back the Malayan tapir. The once and future tapir In 2009, Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, the earl of Cranbrook and a well-known naturalist, and Philip J. Piper, an archaeologist with the Australian National University, published a paper on the discovery of tapir bones in four cave sites in the Malaysian Bornean states of Sabah and Sarawak. Add to this the evidence that early humans painted a tapir in Indonesian Borneo, and it’s possible the species was at one time widespread across the island, albeit a rare, retiring denizen. “Tapirs were present from the Late Pleistocene through Early Holocene to a few thousand years ago,” says Gathorne-Hardy, also known as Lord Cranbrook. There’s also intriguing evidence that the tapir survived into the early 20th century, he adds. In 1826, Pierre Médard-Diard, a French naturalist who explored Borneo, claimed to have killed a tapir in what is today Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province. Others in the 19th century reported sightings or reports of sightings from indigenous groups. During this period, numerous naturalists listed the tapir as among the animals native to Borneo. Heading into the 20th century, however, the lack of a body began to cast doubt on the presence of tapirs on the world’s third-largest island, even as reported sightings of the animal continued into the 1930s; the tapir even featured on a Borneo stamp from 1909 to 1949. While there’s plenty of skepticism about such sightings, let’s not forget that the Malayan tapir is one of the most distinctive-looking mammals on the planet, with its large size, floppy trunk-like nose, and stark white-and-black markings. So it’s certainly possible that the tapir managed to hang on in tiny, disconnected populations into the 20th century, much like the Sumatran rhino, before vanishing altogether. (Today, the Sumatran rhino is extinct across nearly all of Borneo, though a few individuals may survive in Kalimantan; a female, perhaps the last wild rhino of Borneo, was recently caught in East Kalimantan.) After all, extinction is often a slow, uneven process. So we know the tapir was in Borneo and survived there at the very least until 1,500 years ago, as evidenced by a tapir molar buried with a human. But what do we do with this information? Either nothing — or something wild. But before we can think about reintroducing the tapir to Borneo, it’s important to understand why it might have gone extinct. All the tapir bones found in caves were brought there by humans (tapirs didn’t go to caves to die naturally), implying the species was widely hunted. “I am sure that tapirs were hunted, serving as the final straw for a dwindling population of animals already stressed by ecological factors,” says Gathorne-Hardy. *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Malayan Tapir (Tapirus indicus). Image by Rhett A. Butler.During the past 10,000 years, tapirs also lost prime habitat in Borneo. According to John Payne, head of the Borneo Rhino Alliance (BORA), tapirs require pioneer woody plants for survival. But in recent millennia the vegetation in Borneo shifted increasingly to low-light, low-nutrient rainforest, which supports fewer tapir-friendly plants. “Woody plants in the understory of closed-canopy rainforest are too sparse and too full of toxic ‘secondary’ compounds,” Payne says, adding that “tapirs cannot survive on those alone.” Payne says he believes hunting played a role as well, of course, but adds he wants to combat the “rather simple-minded view” that large mammals went extinct recently due to a single cause, be it hunting, habitat loss or climate change. Yet even though the Borneo of a thousand years ago may have supported only a few pockets of prime habitat for tapirs, that doesn’t mean the species can’t make an island comeback today. Back to Borneo The earl of Cranbrook and Piper first suggested that officials consider reintroducing the tapir in Borneo in a paper in 2007. The idea was then taken up by the Malaysian Nature Society. In 2017, news reports hinted at high-level talks, perhaps even an agreement, on bringing tapirs back to the Malaysian state of Sabah. However, government officials quickly poured cold water on that notion. But is there any habitat left for tapirs in Borneo? Payne says yes, due to decades of massive logging operations. From the 1960s to 1990, the forests of what are today Tabin Wildlife Reserve and Ulu Segama Malua Forest Reserve were heavily logged, unintentionally creating more open canopies and the kind of food sources tapirs require. Tabin already has the infrastructure to house tapirs, left over from its Sumatran rhino captive-breeding program. When I asked the earl of Cranbrook if there were potential drawbacks in bringing the tapir back to Borneo, he responded: “None springs to mind.” This doesn’t mean the idea is without controversy. Government officials in both Sabah and mainland Malaysia were unwilling to comment to me about it. A number of tapir researchers also didn’t return repeated requests for comment. This wasn’t for lack of trying; I was really keen to hear the opposing arguments. Finally, days before this column was to be published, I heard from a tapir researcher willing to speak out. *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author A Malayan tapir walking in middle of night at Taman Negara National Park, Pahang, Malaysia. Image by Bernard Dupont via Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 2.0).‘100% against it’ Carl Traeholt is a scientist at the Research and Conservation Division of the Copenhagen Zoo and on the steering committee for the IUCN’s Tapir Specialist Group. Traeholt says he’s “100% against it,” adding “there is absolutely no ecological and conservation justification for [reintroducing the tapir to Borneo].” Traeholt says the Malayan tapir is “no-way close to extinction.” The IUCN currently classifies the species as Endangered with a global population of less than 2,500 animals. “The tapir went extinct naturally in [Borneo] for a reason,” he notes. “No doubt that ‘early’ humans also had a role in this, but hunting for game has been equally present amongst indigenous peoples in West Malaysia and Sumatra, where there are still tapirs. It seems completely disingenuous to ‘reintroduce’ tapirs into Borneo again.” Traeholt adds that the numbers game also makes reintroduction prohibitively expensive. According to Traeholt you’d need around 35-40 animals for a viable population, requiring reintroducing around 60-70 animals assuming some wouldn’t survive. Zainal Zainuddin, a veterinarian with BORA who has worked for many years with both Malayan tapirs and Sumatran rhinos, says he thinks the idea of a “hard release” dissuaded many people. Under such a plan, tapirs would be brought over from mainland Malaysia, where they still live, and dumped directly into the Bornean forest. Zainuddin says a better way to do this would be to use the mainland tapirs to start a captive-breeding population in Borneo. If successful, the young of the immigrant tapirs could then be released into protected areas in a much more controlled manner. “It should not take too long,” he says. But Traeholt is still worried that the cost of such a program would undercut conservation funding for more vital programs. “The potential drawback is that a lot of money that will be poured into a conservation initiative that seems more driven by human ‘want a place in history desire’ rather than a genuine justified conservation need.” There is considerable debate about how projects for charismatic animals may take away funds from lesser-known, but more vital, conservation programs. But, of course, the issue is complicated as in some cases donors who are funding so-called “sexy” projects may simply not give to conservation otherwise. “Sabah was unable to protect their rhinos. Why would anyone believe that they will be more successful in protecting tapirs? Or willing to put multi-millions into this?” Traeholt adds. Dreaming of tapirs Gathorne-Hardy sees the situation differently though. He believes a reintroduction of the tapir could provide a new population for an animal increasingly stressed in mainland Asia and Sumatra. Gathorne-Hardy says there may be fewer than 1,000 in Malaysia now. “Every year the Wildlife Department of Peninsular Malaysia has to rescue tapirs that have been driven out of their natural habitat by clearance of the forest, plantation schemes, etc.,” he says. “Several have been run down on the roads, presenting a serious hazard to animal and people.” A Google News search for “tapir” and “Malaysia” yields a grisly list of tapir roadkill. In addition to creating a new population, bringing tapirs back to Borneo could also “relieve the Peninsular Malaysian Wildlife Department of the recurrent, presumably increasing cost of keeping rescued tapirs in captivity for the remainder of their lives,” Gathorne-Hardy argues. Tapirs rescued from forests or snares often end up in wildlife rescue centers, but it’s often a life sentence. *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Malaysian tapir. Image by Rhett A. Butler.“There is nowhere these ‘rescued’ or injured tapirs can be translocated or released in Peninsular Malaysia,” Gathorne-Hardy says. “All available habitat has an existing population.” The return of tapirs could also boost the profile of protected areas like Tabin and Ulu Segama Malua, and may even lead to new ecotourism opportunities. In recent years, conservationists have been assailed with the idea that they need to do more than just count extinctions and raise alarms: they need to show optimism and innovation. They need to talk about progress that’s been made and prove to the world that we can protect ecosystems and biodiversity. They need to get people interested and excited. They need to make it cool to be a conservationist again. And, for all the challenges and potential cost, bringing back tapirs to Borneo would be very cool, for lack of a better word. Few places in the world need positive conservation stories more than Southeast Asia. With some of the highest deforestation rates in the world, an increasing prevalence of empty-forests syndrome, and a shocking amount of illegal wildlife trade, Southeast Asia could really use an exciting story to show what’s possible. So why not the black-and-white, gangly snouted tapir? It’s could have all the ingredients of a potentially great story (it would just need some good PR): a unique, beautiful animal goes extinct, but with the help of dedicated conservationists it makes a comeback. This would be a great PR opportunity for Sabah to show how it’s on the cutting edge of wildlife protection and rewilding — and could be a point of pride for the people of Sabah. It may be that a positive, big conservation news story could begat more conservation interest and efforts overall. There are many reasons, eloquently outlined by Traeholt, not to waste time and effort on such a project. And the reasons to proceed are less tangible and more airy. *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Malayan Tapir (Tapirus indicus). Image by Rhett A. Butler.But I remember as a teenager when conservationists released wolves back into Yellowstone. There was no conservation reason to do so at the time: the species was far less endangered than the Malayan tapir. And the project was deeply controversial given this was an apex predator. But the US went ahead anyway. It’s a conservation story that really struck my 15-year-old self and still clings to me today: a sign of what’s possible when we talk about restoring the things we have lost. And the project has been an undeniable success: we have learned things from bringing wolves back that we never would have known otherwise. We already have the evidence that tapirs used to live in Borneo. We know that humans were a factor, though probably not the only one, in their extinction from the island. Conservationists know how to keep and breed tapirs in captivity — Peninsular Malaysia has a significant number of animals in captivity already — and the species could definitely use a new population. So what’s stopping us? Forty thousand years ago, humans painted the image of a tapir on a cave wall in Borneo. Maybe, just maybe, it’s time to try and bring that drawing back to life. https://news.mongabay.com/2019/01/bringing-the-tapir-back-to-borneo/amp/?__twitter_impression=true 
Its incredible how these animals can reach and even surpass the 300 kilos range.
Red Yaguarete
Tapir, Anta or Mborevi (Tapirus terrestris) is the largest land mammal in South America: its weight ranges from 150 and 300 kg. and a dam from the Yaguareté. Threatened by habitat loss and especially hunting for its meat, in Argentina it is considered Vulnerable. However, it finds excellent shelters in El Impenetrable National Parks (Chaco) and Baritu (Salta), where this photo was taken and in the provinces Esmeralda and Urugua-í (Misiones).  *This image is copyright of its original author
Tapir - South Pantanal
First wild born tapir in rio de janitor
https://twitter.com/mlrheingantz/status/1237929628230201344?s=19
Tapir crossing black river - southern Pantanal
Onças do Rio Negro https://www.facebook.com/oncasdorionegro...=2&theater ''The tapir is the largest land mammal in South America, it can weigh up to 300kg! ⠀ Tapirs are very important animals for the proliferation of forests. They eat about 8kg per day of leaves, shoots, branches and fruits. The seeds of the fruits are digested and when they come out in the form of faeces, they are ready to germinate and help the forest to continue growing. For this reason they are considered to be the planters of the forests! ⠀ The researcher Patrícia Medici is a great world reference for her studies with tapirs and most of them were performed here in the Pantanal. ⠀ Long live the jungle planters.''  |
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