Translocations and Reintroductions of Tapirs: Case Studies

An important conservation strategy for endangered species, such as the four tapir species, is to translocate animals to their historical ranges. In this chapter, we review tapir translocation initiatives to provide insight into future tapir reintroductions. Translocation projects have focused primarily on lowland tapirs; Baird’s tapirs and mountain tapirs have received limited translocation attention, and there have been no translocation projects for the Malayan tapir. Lowland tapir reintroduction projects have been initiated in Iberá, Argentina, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with the goal of establishing self-sustaining populations in the 2010s. In Iberá, 11 adults were translocated between September 2016 and November 2018. However, the project had to be suspended due to the exotic hemoflagellate parasite Trypanosoma evansi, which resulted in the death of five tapirs in the field due to parasite infection. The tapir reintroduction project in Rio de Janeiro is currently underway, with 14 tapirs have been released between 2017 and 2021. Since then, four calves have been born in the wild, but six of the translocated tapirs have died. These two examples highlight the challenges that can arise and underscore the importance of adaptive management in translocation projects.