Public Release:  Collaring tapirs to help them survive

MSU team study how the endangered Baird's tapir and farmers in Nicaragua can co-exist

Michigan State University


IMAGE: A Baird's tapir caught on camera in the rainforest of Nicaragua by an MSU team of researchers. The scientists are studying ways in which the endangered animal and local farmers... view more

Credit: Photo courtesy of Michigan State University


The animals were thought to be extinct in that part of the world until just two years ago when the MSU team discovered them still living there through the use of "camera trapping" - the setting up of still and video cameras in order to "capture" the animal.




"The farmers may have to recognize that there might be some crop losses, but nothing too substantial."

Despite being related to elephants, Baird's tapirs are known to the local population as the "cow of the rainforest." Weighing in at about 600 pounds, the animal plays a major role in seed dispersal - eating fruits and spreading seeds throughout the region.






All four species of tapirs are either endangered or threatened.



Watch a related video at
