More info about Rafiki’s tapir project…

My name is Polly Underdown and I am a veterinarian, originally from Scotland, and I have been working on the tapir project at Rafiki since April 2007.  pollyunderdown@gmail.com

One of the first things that many of our guests ask me is ‘when are you going to bring in the tapirs?’  It is a valid question – 5 years seems like a long time and still the fence for the enclosures are in the planning phase.  The truth is, it is a long process.  And so below I will explain some of the work I have been doing and what still requires to be done to before we can finally reintroduce our first tapir.

Project Proposal

In the past few months I have been working on our project proposal, a document that outlines the main aims of our project, and circulating it amongst international tapir specialists, (researchers, veterinarians and biologists).  I have received a great deal of support and advice from many parties which has helped me tremendously in deciding all sorts of things such as the appropriate type of fencing to use and investigating possible disease risks. 

‘Hands-on’ Experience with tapirs

I have also made trips to Summit Zoo in Panama City to help with the treatment of one of the male tapirs there, to San Diego Zoo and the Wild Animal Park and to Chester Zoo in the UK to discuss our project with veterinarians and keepers there.

The Fence
The design and location of the fence is crucial to the success of the project.  Tapirs are in fact far more agile than they appear and they are good climbers.  They can climb almost vertical slopes and easily scale a 3ft fence and so the recommendation is for it to be 2m tall, with no horizontal bars.  I have looked into the possibility of using an African-style game fence but in the end chain-link looks like the best option from the research I have done so far.

 Another potential problem with a fence in the forest is tree-fall, a frequent and natural occurrence.  There is no way that we can avoid this without clearing the trees either side of it, (which is illegal and also completely against Rafiki’s ethos), and so Jose Luis, one of the local workers who has worked at Rafiki since 1999 and whose father farmed the land before that, will walk the perimeter twice daily and carry out fence maintenance as well as harvest additional food from the forest for the tapirs in the intensive enclosure.

Tapir Update

For those of who that have been wondering about our project, thank you for your patience. At the same time as Rafiki presented its project at the International Tapir Symposium in 2008, another huge challenge fell on to rafiki's shoulders. ICE, which is the country's power and communication company start studies to dam the Savegre River. The overall impact of this project is disasterous to not only Rafiki's business, but also the biological corridors and overall ecology. Rafiki is currently trying to unite various parties, including river rafting companies, conservation groups and anyone interested in keeping the Savegre wild and scenic.

The fight against the dam has put the tapir project on pause for the moment.Meanwhile we are awaiting Costa Rica's decision whether to support Rafiki's project or not. recently Costa Rica has been heavily ctritized for its hiprocacy in matters regarding conservation. The ministry of environment took responsibility of energy and most recently also telecommunications. This has effectively made this ministry incapable of making any steps to protecting the environment. Fortunately, Costa Rica is rapidly becoming known for its ecologically friendly tourism industry, which happens to be the country's leading producer of revenue. The confrontation of what Costa Rica claims and what it is actually doing in regards to its conservation efforts is bound to become something the government is going to have to face.

Rafiki's reserve is only getting better, every year we see an increase in animal life, a change in the attitude of the local people, and more and more interest in our project. Rafiki plans to join forces with ASANA to strengthen the biological corridor leading towards the Osa Peninsula. We are currently studying the corridor with camera traps, and continue to hear of evidence that there are still a few tapir cruising around. We have not given up on our dream to see tapirs walk the Savegre, but we must take into consideration the trends of Costa Rica, and make sure that when we do relase the animals, they will have a healthy place to go!