In 1996, IPÊ started an innovative research and conservation program focused on the lowland tapir in the Atlantic Forest of the Pontal do Paranapanema region (SP).

Between 1996 and 2007, the main focus of the Atlantic Forest Tapir Program was to obtain basic data and information on Brazilian tapir populations in the Pontal do Paranapanema region. Thirty-five (35) tapirs were captured during this period, 25 of which (13 females and 12 males) were fitted with radio-telemetry transmitters and monitored over the years. Results of this long-term monitoring include the size of the area of use, the size of areas of greater intensity of use, overlapping areas of use between neighbouring individuals, aspects of social organization and reproduction, seasonal use of different types of habitat, activity patterns and patterns of movement through the fragmented landscape. Hundreds of samples of biological material were collected, generating information on the genetic and epidemiological status of the species, as well as aspects of feeding ecology and seed dispersal.

IPÊ’s Atlantic Forest Tapir Program was the first long-term initiative for research and conservation of the Brazilian tapir in Brazil, which allowed us to establish a huge database on the conservation status of the species in the Atlantic Forest of Pontal do Paranapanema. The main approach of the program was to research tapirs in the context of the landscape, using these animals as “ecological detectives” in the process of identifying and mapping the main movement routes through the landscape, and consequently the potential areas for establishing corridors and/or ecological stepping stones as tools for re-establishing habitat connectivity. As a result, IPÊ has been using this information to influence the process of restoring important areas for tapirs in the region, as well as promoting the creation of new protected areas. More importantly, this information was used to develop a Regional Action Plan for the Research, Conservation and Management of the Brazilian Tapir in the Atlantic Forest of Pontal do Paranapanema, which has been implemented.

Since 2008, with the expansion of our Brazilian tapir conservation efforts to other Brazilian biomes and the establishment of the National Initiative for the Conservation of the Brazilian Tapir, the Atlantic Forest Tapir Project has evolved into a long-term monitoring program. Some relevant population variables – population numbers (demography), epidemiology and genetics – continue to be monitored in Morro do Diabo State Park in order to detect any changes or fluctuations that we need to intervene in.

Visit the Pantanal Tapir Program page and the National Initiative for the Conservation of the Brazilian Tapir website at www.tapirconservation.org.br.