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.

The TSG Reintroduction Protocols

Currently we are eagerly awaiting the publication of tapir reintroduction and translocation protocols by the Tapir Specialist Group (TSG).  The TSG is a member of the Species Survival Commission (SSC), which is a branch of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).  The protocols are recommendations and suggestions that are being drawn up by the TSG to increase the chance of successful reintroductions and translocations.  From these protocols and with good record-keeping, the conservation world will be able to learn from both successes and problems encountered. Until these protocols have been finalized, understandably the TSG are unable to endorse our project.  Project endorsement by the TSG is necessary before we start constructing fences for the enclosures because obviously if our ideas do not fit with their recommended protocols then we would have take them down and start from scratch.  This would be a time-consuming and costly mistake.  The protocols are due to be published in 2008. 

4th International Tapir Symposium

The 4th International Tapir Symposium organized by the TSG is 26th April-1st may 2008 in Cancun, Mexico.  There will be workshops, discussions and talks about current and future projects, as well as reports on how the Species Survival Plan (drawn up after the First symposium in 2001) is being implemented and what further steps need to be taken.  It will be a fantastic opportunity to meet many of the world’s tapir experts face to face and we are also hoping to present Rafiki’s Tapir Project at the symposium.