Regional Assessment of the Status of Lowland Tapirs (Tapirus terrestris) in the Upper Paraná Atlantic Forest Ecoregion

PAVIOLO, A.; DI BLANCO, Y. E.; VARELA, D.; DE ANGELO, C. D.; DI BITETTI, M. S.

Buenos Aires

Simposio; Third International Tapir Symposium; 2006

The Upper Paraná Atlantic Forest (or Interior Atlantic Forest) eco-region is a subtropical rainforest distributed throughout the Misiones province of Argentina, South Brazil and East Paraguay. As a result of forest conversion and degradation it is one of the most endangered rainforests on Earth, with only 7% of its original extension remaining as isolated forest fragments. The objective of this work is to know the current distribution and population?s status of the lowland tapir in this eco-region. We carried out a compilation of bibliographic information and interviews to researchers, park rangers and local inhabitants about the presence of the species in the region. In order to evaluate the relative abundance, habitat use and activity patterns of tapirs in Misiones, we conducted surveys with camera-traps in three different areas: Urugua-í Provincial Park and Reserve (34 sampling stations, 1,409 trap-days, area surveyed=8,146 ha), Iguazú National Park (44 sampling stations, 1,631 trapdays, area surveyed=20,227 ha) and Yabotí Biosphere Reserve (23 sampling stations, 1,060 trapdays, area surveyed=37,146 ha). Each sampling station consisted of two camera-traps facing each other, located along un-frequently used dirt roads or trails opened with machete. We estimated the daily activity pattern through the time printed on the photographs. In East Paraguay the species subsists in only four protected areas: San Rafael Managed Resources Reserve (58,490 ha), Bosque Mbaracayú Natural Reserve (59,056 ha), Itabó (9,885 ha) and Limoy Biological Reserve (11,866 ha), we could not confirm the presence in Morombí Private Reserve (25,000 ha) and Cerro Corá National Park (6,005 ha). In Brazil the species is present in the few remaining well protected forest fragments larger than 3,000 ha. In Misiones the tapir is still present in forested areas of the center and North of the province (Green Corridor), but its distribution has declined more than 30 % within the last 40 years. The mean camera-trap capture rate was five times higher in Iguazú, an area with a low hunting pressure, than in the others two areas, that present a higher hunting rate (Kruskal-Wallis, X2= 34,1796; df=2; p