Volume 11 / Number 1 June 2002 TTaappiirr CCoonnsseerrvvaattiioonn The Newsletter of the IUCN/SSC Tapir Specialist Group Edited by Siân S. Waters and Stefan Seitz (c) Kevin Burkhill Burkhill (c) Kevin Contents ! From the Chair page 3 ! First International Tapir Symposium page 5 ! Conservation Committees Founded page 8 ! Current Project Updates page 9 ! News from the Field page 16 ! News from Captivity page 21 ! Contributed Papers page 23 ! Bibliography page 31 ! Poem Reasons to smile: The First International Tapir Symposium in Costa Rica was a promising event page 33 for tapir conservation. From left to right, the photo shows Gordon Blankstein (Mountain View Con- ! Tapir Specialist Group servation & Breeding Center, Canada), Rick Barongi (Houston Zoo, USA), Charles R. Foerster Members and Structure (Baird's Tapir Project, Costa Rica), Heidi Frohring (Woodland Park Zoo, USA), James E. Norton page 34 (University of Illinois at Chicago, USA), Stefan Seitz (Germany), and (kneeling), Wally Van Sickle (Idea Wild, USA), and Alexander Blanco (Parque Zoológico Las Delícias, Venezuela), after the fund raising auction. Photo by Sonia Hernandez-Divers Printing and distribution of the Tapir Conservation Newsletter is supported by the Houston Zoo, 1513 N. MacGregor, Houston, Texas 77030, United States http://www.houstonzoo.org Tapir Conservation 1 / 2002 Contents Masthead 2 Contents, Masthead Tapir Conservation is the newsletter of the IUCN/SSC Tapir Specialist Group (TSG). 3 Letter from the Chair Tapir Conservation offers the members of the TSG and others concerned with the 4 The Tapir Specialist Group’s Evolutionary Consultant family Tapiridae, recent events, relevant publications, and general information about this threatened mammalian genus. More information about the IUCN/SSC Tapir 5 The First International Tapir Symposium Specialist Group is available at: www.tapirback.com/tapirgal/iucn-ssc/tsg/ 8 Conservation Committees Founded 8 Red Danta Colombia (Colombian Tapir Network) 8 The Mexican Committee for Tapir Conservation and Editorial Board Recovery (MCT) 9 Current Project Updates Chair Patrícia Medici 9 The Influence of Large Herbivores on Neotropical Forests IUCN/SSC Avenida Perdizes, 285, Vila São Paulo, 10 Proyecto Danta – Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica Tapir Specialist Group Teodoro Sampaio, São Paulo, BRAZIL 19280-000 11 Conservation biology of lowland tapirs (Tapirus terrestris) Phone: ++55 (18) 3282 4690 and their potential as landscape detectives in the Pontal do Paranapanema Region, São Paulo State, Brazil Fax: ++55 (18) 3282 3924 14 Tapir Surveys in Colombia E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected] 16 News from the Field 16 CENTRAL AMERICA Deputy Chair Charles R. Foerster 16 Belize IUCN/SSC 445 CR 221, Orange Grove, Texas, USA 78372 17 Field notes from Eastern Honduras: Tapirs (Tapirus bairdii) Tapir Specialist Group Phone & Fax: ++1 (719) 228 06 28 in the Rio Patuca region E-mail: [email protected] 18 SOUTH AMERICA 18 Tapirus terrestris (LINNAEUS, 1758) (Mammalia, Perisso- Editor Siân S. Waters dactyla) In an Area of Sub-tropical Forest in Southern Brazil: Contributions 14 Lindsay Gardens Diet, Habitat Use and Population Density Tredegar, Gwent 18 Brazil NP22 4RP UK 19 Ecuador Tel: +44 (0) 1495 722117 19 Mountain Tapir Translocation Project, Northern Ecuador, E-mail: [email protected] October 1999 - May 2000 20 ASIA Editor Stefan Seitz 20 Indonesia Layout and Graphics Bonndorfer Strasse 19 21 Thailand 68239 Mannheim, GERMANY 21 News from Captivity Phone & Fax: ++49 (0)621 47 14 28 21 Venezuela E-mail: [email protected] 21 Enclosure Effects on Tapir Breeding and Welfare 22 TAG & STUDBOOK NEWS Subscriptions Sheryl Todd 22 Report from the EAZA Tapir & Hippo TAG and Webmaster Tapir Preservation Fund (TPF) 22 Research proposal on tapir nutrition P.O. Box 118, Astoria, Oregon, USA 97103 23 Baird's Tapir Studbook Address Change Phone & Fax: ++(503) 325 31 79 23 Contributed Papers E-mail: [email protected] 23 Malayan Tapirs (Tapirus indicus): Far from Extinction in a Malaysian Rainforest Sponsored by The Houston Zoo, Texas, USA 27 Recent Observations of Melanistic Tapirs in Peninsular Malaysia Price US$ 10.00 per volume, free for members 28 International Tapir Survey in Several European and North American Zoos 31 Bibliography Potential contributors may submit material to the contributions editor, Siân Waters, 33 Poem: Tapir Discovery preferably by email. The closing date for submissions to the next issue is 31 34 IUCN/SSC Tapir Specialist Group – August, 2002. The views in Tapir Conservation do not necessarily reflect those of Membership / Directions the IUCN nor of the entire IUCN/SSC Tapir Specialist Group. Items from this news- 40 IUCN/SSC Tapir Specialist Group – letter may be reprinted providing they are credited to this publication. Photo copyright Structure and Positions is retained by the individual photographers. 2 June 2002 Vol. 11 / No. 1 ! Tapir Conservation ! Newsletter of the IUCN/SSC Tapir Specialist Group From the Chair Letter from the Chair After two years as TSG Chair, I would like to start this letter contributions can range from letter with a brief retrospective. In the beginning of just a paragraph about your work or 2000, Sharon Matola stepped down as chair and pro- observations to short papers. The posed my name for the position. I agreed to take over purpose of the newsletter is not and I do not have enough words to thank Sharon, only to let the world know what we are doing as a Sheryl Todd and Mariano Dixon for all their great help group, but to monitor status, conservation, and research and support during the transition. I would not have relating to tapirs. made it without them! During 2001, most of our time and energy was spent Initially, Sheryl and I worked on a list of short, me- on the organization of the First International Tapir dium and long-term actions for the group and put to- Symposium, a joint effort between the IUCN/SSC Ta- gether the new membership. The number of members pir Specialist Group, the Tapir Preservation Fund increased to 71 professionals from 22 different coun- (TPF), and the American Zoo and Aquarium Associa- tries (South, Central and North America, Asia, and tion (AZA) Tapir Taxon Advisory Group (TTAG). The Europe) and with varied backgrounds and expertise. In symposium was held in San Jose, Costa Rica, from 3 to an effort to create a stronger organization and distribute 8 November 2001 and it proved to be a great boost to the workload, Sheryl and I appointed a Species Coor- tapir conservation efforts. This was the first time that dinator for each tapir species, and additional officers so many tapir experts and conservationists had gath- based on the group’s needs (current positions, names of ered to share their knowledge and address future chal- the coordinators, and members of the different commit- lenges facing these threatened species. We had 85 par- tees can be found in the “TSG’s STRUCTURE” article ticipants including almost half of the TSG membership. in this issue). Over 80% of the symposium's budget was covered by donations from four major zoos (Houston, Los Ange- As you all probably know, Sheryl Todd has been the les, Disney and San Diego) and I would like to TSG Deputy-Chair for four years. She is also the Presi- THANK them all for their contributions. Very special dent of the Tapir Preservation Fund (TPF), manager of thanks go to Rick Barongi, Director of the Houston the Tapir Talk e-mail group and Webmaster of the Tapir Zoo, chairperson of the AZA Tapir TAG and member Gallery website (www.tapirback.com/tapirgal/). Re- of the TSG, for raising most of the funds for the event. cently, Sheryl decided to step down from the TSG Thank you, Rick! Deputy-Chair position. She will continue being an active member of the group and will stay on as Web- Several results, plans, tasks, insights and ideas were master and banker for TSG (via TPF). The TSG and generated by the symposium. The TSG will be respon- the TPF will keep working together as closely as ever. sible for seeing that the momentum from the confer- Charles Foerster, a North American biologist, who has ence is not lost. During the next few months, we will been studying Baird's Tapir in Costa Rica for the past 7 start working on the symposium proceedings and that years, has agreed to take over the position and will help will be as important as the event itself! We must ensure me chair the group during the next years. I would like that the information resulting from the symposium is to thank Sheryl for all her tireless work over the past published so that there are immediate and long-term years (and, in advance, for all her work in the future!) benefits for tapir conservation worldwide. Abstracts of and welcome Charles to the position! the presentations and workshops, as well as pictures will be available on the Tapir Gallery website soon. Siân Waters (conservation & zoo biologist, UK) and Further details about the symposium, our future actions Stefan Seitz (captive research on tapir behavior and and plans for TSG, coordinators of each one of the management, Germany) are the new editors for the committees, etc. can be found in the “FIRST Tapir Conservation Newsletter. We still plan to publish INTERNATIONAL TAPIR SYMPOSIUM” article in two issues per year and from now on Siân and Stefan this issue. will be responsible for the newsletter's editing. Thank you, Siân and Stefan for all your hard work in putting Fundraising is a topic we discussed exhaustively dur- this together. I would like to remind you all that news- ingthesymposiuminCostaRicaandthiswillbea Tapir Conservation ! Newsletter of the IUCN/SSC Tapir Specialist Group ! Vol. 11 / No. 1 June 2002 3 From the Chair major priority for 2002.