Scientists Find Tapir Paradise in Remote National Parks Along Peru-Bolivia Border
Posted on January 22, 2013
Wildlife Conservation Society scientists have found a tapir paradise in a network of five remote national parks located along the Peru-Bolivia border. The WCS estimates there at least 14,500 of the herbivores living in the region. The odd looking creatures have a distinctive trunk-like snout.
WCS researchers came up with the number by using camera traps and interviewing park guards and subsistence hunters. The findings were published in the December issue of the journal Integrative Zoology.
The study's lead author Robert Wallace said in a release, "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. These results underline the fundamental importance of protected areas for the conservation of larger species of wildlife threatened by hunting and habitat loss."