WCS 3-Sentence Science

Tapir Bathtubs Are Drying Up

November 22, 2019

CREDIT: JOSE MOREIRA

Each year, Wildlife Conservation Society scientists publish more than 300 peer-reviewed studies and papers. “WCS 3-Sentence Science” is a regular tip-sheet — in bite sized helpings — of some of this published work.

Here we present work by WCS’s Jose Moreira on the loss of water in ponds favored by the Baird’s tapir in Mexico’s Calakmul Biosphere Reserve.

1. Researchers documented the relationship between the Baird’s tapir (Tapirus bairdii) and long-term viability of ponds in the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve (CBR) — the largest protected tropical forest in Mexico.
2. A decreasing trend in water availability from these ponds was detected from 2008 to 2018, and researchers’ objective was to document population of tapirs during these 11 years, revealing any relationship to the pattern of water availability.
3. Using the technique of camera-trapping, results showed that although the population remained relatively stable, the index of relative abundance indicated a slight decrease in population that in some sites seemed at least superficially associated with decreasing water availability.

Study and Journal: “Tapir population patterns under the disappearance of free-standing water” from Therya
WCS Co-Author(s): Jose Moreira, Research Associate, WCS Latin America and Caribbean Program

For more information, contact: Stephen Sautner, 718–220–3682, ssautner@wcs.org.