Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T13:17:10.894Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The mountain tapir, endangered ‘flagship’ species of the high Andes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2009

Craig C. Downer
Craig C. Downer*
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, University College of North Wales, Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 2UW, UK.
*
PO Box 456, Minden, NV 89423, USA.
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The mountain tapir has already disappeared from parts of its range in the high Andes of South America and remaining populations are severely threatened by hunting and habitat destruction. With an estimated population of fewer than 2500 individuals, urgent measures are necessary to secure a future for the species. This paper presents an overview of the species throughout its range as well as some of the main results of the author's studies on tapir ecology. Finally, a plea is made for conservation action in Sangay National Park, which is one of the species's main strongholds.

Type
Research Article
Information
Oryx , Volume 30 , Issue 1 , January 1996 , pp. 45 - 58
Copyright
Copyright © Fauna and Flora International 1996

References

Acosta, H., Cavelier, J. and Londona, S. In press. Aportes al Conocimiento de la Biologia de Tapirus pinchaque, en el Parque Regional Natural Ucumari. Biotropica.Google Scholar
Archivos Nuevo Mundo. 1492-Present. Madrid, Spain.Google Scholar
Associated Press. 1995 (02 12). Group urges worldwide protection for mountain ecosystems. Reno Gazette Journal, Reno, Nevada.Google Scholar
Bodmer, R.E. 1989. Frugivory in Amazonian Artiodactyla: evidence for the evolution of the ruminant stomach, journal Zoology (London), 219, 457–467.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bodmer, R.E. 1990. Fruit patch size and frugivory in the lowland tapir (Tapirus terrestris). Journal Zoology (London), 222, 121–128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bodmer, R.E. 1991. Strategies of seed dispersal and seed predation in Amazonian ungulates. Biotropica, 23 (3), 255–261.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bonney, S. and Crotty, M.J. 1979. Breeding the mountain tapir, Tapirus pinchaque, at the Los Angeles Zoo. International Zoo Yearbook, 19, 198–200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boyce, M.S. 1992. Population Viability Analysis. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 23, 481–506.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cabrera, A. and Yepes, J. 1940. Mamiferos Sud-Americanos. Casa Argentina de Editores, Buenos Aires, Argentina.Google Scholar
Castaño-Uribe, C. 1991. Hombres de Ladera y Camino Arriero. In Bosques de Niebla de Colombia (ed. Hurtado, C. U.), pp. 171–182. Banco Occidental Credencial, Bogota, Colombia.Google Scholar
Cavelier, J. 1991. El Ciclo del Agua en Bosques Montanos. In Bosques de Niebla de Colombia (ed. Hurtado, C. U.), pp. 69–84. Banco Occidental Credencial, Bogota, Colombia.Google Scholar
Cavelier, J. and Etter, A. 1995. Deforestation of montane rain forests in Colombia as a result of illegal plantation of opium (Papaver somniferum). In Neotropical Montane Forests: Biodiversity and Conservation. Proceedings of a conference, 06 1993, New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York.Google Scholar
Crawley, M.J. 1983. Herbivory: The Dynamics of Animal—Plant Interaction. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford.Google Scholar
Cuvier, M. le Baron. 1829. Rapport sur un Memoire de M. Roulin, ayant pour objet la decouverte d'une nouvelle espece de Tapir dans l'Amerique du Sud, fait a l'Academie royal des Sciences. Annales des Sciences Naturelles, 17, 107–112Google Scholar
D'Aulaire, E. and D'Aulaire, P.O. 1979. Is this the creature time forgot? International Wildlife, 9 (1), 29–32.Google Scholar
Downer, C.C. 1981. A paramo paradise: Colombia's Las Hermosas National Park. Americas, pp. 18–25. Organization of American States, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Downer, C.C. 1991. Andean Highway Violates International Treaty. E-Sheet, 2 (52). Environmental News Service, Vancouver, Canada.Google Scholar
Downer, C.C. 1995a. The gentle botanist. Wildlife Conservation, New York Zoological Society, Bronx, New York, 08, 30–35.Google Scholar
Downer, C.C. 1995b. Road alert. Wildlife Conservation, New York Zoological Society, Bronx, New York, 10, 10.Google Scholar
Eisenberg, J.F. 1989. Mammals of the Neotropics. The North. Neotropics. Vol. 1. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Fradrich, M. and Thenius, E. 1968. Tapirs. In Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia (ed. Grzimek, H. C. B.), pp. 17–33. Van Nostrand-Reinhold, New York.Google Scholar
Fragosa, J.M. 1983. The ecology and behaviour of Baird's tapir in Belize. BSc Thesis. Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.Google Scholar
Fundacion Natura. 1992. Parques Nacionales del Ecuador y Otras Areas Naturales Protegidas. Fundacion Natura and Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, Quito, Ecuador.Google Scholar
Griffith, B., Scott, J.M., Carpenter, J.W. and Reed, C. 1989. Translocation as a species conservation tool: status and strategy. Science, 245, 477–480.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Grimwood, I.R. 1969. Notes on the Distribution and Status of some Peruvian Mammals 1968. Special publication 21, American Committee for International Wildlife. Protection and New York Zoological Society, Bronx, NY, USA.Google Scholar
Guinan, Y.N. 1992. Resolving people-park conflicts Sangay National Park, Ecuador: a case study of Alao. MSc dissertation. University College of North Wales, Bangor, UK.Google Scholar
Hershkovitz, P. 1954. Mammals of northern Colombia, preliminary report No. 7: Tapirs (genus Tapirus) with a systematic review of American species. Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. 103, 465–496.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holdridge, L.R., Grenke, W.C., Hatheway, W.H., Liang, T. and JrTossi, J.A. 1971. Forest Environments in Tropical Life Zones. Pergamon Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
IUCN. 1972. Red Data Book. IUCN-The World Conservation Union, Morges, Switzerland.Google Scholar
IUCN. 1982. Red Data Book. IUCN-The World Conservation Union, Gland, Switzerland.Google Scholar
Janis, C. 1976. The evolutionary strategy of the Equidae and the origins of rumen and caecal digestion. Evolution, 30, 757–774.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Janis, C. 1984. Tapirs as living fossils. In Living Fossils (eds Eldredge, N. and Stanley, S. M.), Springer Verlag, New York and Berlin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Janzen, D.H. 1982. Seeds in tapir dung in Santa Rosa National Park, Costa Rica. Brenesia, No. 19/20, 129–135.Google Scholar
Janzen, D.H. 1986. The eternal external threat. In Conservation Biology: The Science of Scarcity Diversity (ed. Soulé, M. E.), pp. 286–303. Sinauer, Sunderland, Mass. USA.Google Scholar
Klein, D.R. 1965. Ecology of deer range in Alaska. Ecol. Monogr. 35, 259–284.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, G.E. 1950. Sangay, fire-breathing giant of the Andes. National Geographic Magazine, 97, 117–138.Google Scholar
Mace, G.M. and Lande, R. 1991. Assessing extinction threats: toward a re-evaluation of IUCN threatened species categories. Conservation Biology, 148–157.Google Scholar
Macey, A., Armstrong, G., Gallo, N. and Hall, M.J. 1976. Sangay: Un Estudio de Las Alternativas de Manejo. Depto. de Parques Nacionales y Vida Silvestre. Direccion General de Desarrollo Forestal, Quito, Ecuador.Google Scholar
Martin, P.S. and Wright, H.E. 1967. Pleistocene Extinctions. Yale University Press, New Haven.Google Scholar
Morrison, T. and Editors of Time Life. 1976. The Andes. Time Life International, Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Newmark, W.D. 1986. Mammalian richness, colonization and extinction in western North American National Parks. PhD thesis, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.Google Scholar
Patzelt, E. 1989. Fauna del Ecuador. Banco Central de. Ecuador, Quito.Google Scholar
Peyton, B. 1980. Ecology, distribution and food habits of spectacled bears, Tremarctos ornatus, in Peru. Journal of Mammalogy, 61, 639–652.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poore, D. 1992. Guidelines for Mountain Protected Areas. Commission on National Parks and Protected Areas. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.Google Scholar
Ramsay, P.M. 1992. The Paramo vegetation of Ecuador: the community ecology, dynamics and productivity of tropical grasslands in the Andes. PhD thesis. University College of North Wales, Bangor, UK.Google Scholar
Rodrigues, M.R., Olmos, F. and Galetti, M. 1993. Seed dispersal by tapir in southeastern Brazil. Mammalia, 57, 460–461.Google Scholar
Schauenberg, P. 1969. Contribution a l'etude du tapir pinchaque, Tapirus pinchaque. Revue Suisse de Zoologie, 76, 211–256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simpson, S. 1990. The Times Guide To The Environment. Times Books, London.Google Scholar
Soulé, M.E. 1986. Viable Populations. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Terwilleger, V. 1978. Natural history of Baird's tapir on Barro Colorado Island. Biotropica, 10, 211–220.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
UN. 1978. United Nations Conference on Desertification: Roundup, Plan of Action and Resolutions. UN, New York.Google Scholar
UNESCO. 1993. Convention Concernant La Protection du Patrimonie Culturel et Naturel. Carthagene, Colombie (6–11 December 1993), p. 16. UNESCO, Paris, France.Google Scholar
Vega, G. de la. 1966. Royal Commentaries of the Incas and General History of Peru. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Walker, E.P. 1964. Mammals of the World, Vol. 2. John Hopkins Press, Baltimore.Google Scholar
Wilcox, B.A. and Murphy, D.D. 1985. Conservation strategy: the effects of fragmentation on extinction. Am. Nat. 125, 879–887.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, K.D. 1978. Aspects of the ecology and behavior of the Malayan tapir (Tapirus indicus Desmarest) in the national parks of western Malaysia. MSc thesis, Dept. Fish and Wildlife, Michigan State University, USA.Google Scholar
Williams, K.D. 1984. The Central American Tapir (Tapirus bairdii Gill) in northwestern Costa Rica. Dissertation Abstract International, B 45 (4), 1075.Google Scholar
Williams, K.D. and Petrides, G.A. 1980. Browse use, feeding behaviour and management of the Malayan tapir. Journal of Wildlife Management, 44, 489–494.CrossRefGoogle Scholar