Wet sand marked the area of beach covered by the high tide two hours earlier.
Wet sand marked the area of beach covered by the high tide two hours earlier. The fresh paw prints had been made since then. The prints were well formed and clear, but Charlie was looking for a perfect imprint so he could make a plaster cast. Jaguar tracks are a rarity, even in Corcovado, and ones this fresh and sharp were exactly what he had been waiting for. His brow furrowed with disappointment as the trail veered to the left toward the high side of the beach and off the damp sand. The impressions were still clearly identifiable as those of a Jaguar, but the looser, drier sand wasn't suitable for plaster casts.
The distance between prints increased slightly as if the cat had hurried, possibly leaping or skipping for a couple of paces. The trail continued toward the jungle edge to a large driftwood log. Charlie pondered the sandy surface behind the log with its confusing jumble of prints, impressions and scuff marks. A flat impression was obviously compacted by a large body. An image of the magnificent feline materialized in Charlie's mind, crouched behind the log, nervously moving its front paws back and forth, flexing its claws, while peering over the smooth wooden surface. What was it watching? Three meters back from the log the sand had been brushed flat by the wagging of the thick spotted tail, the jaguar's last act preceding attack. Sandy prints on the smooth trunk spoke of anxious front paws poised for a lunge. Over the log it went in leaps and bounds. Thirty meters further down the beach the paw prints met a trail of three-toed tracks coming from the opposite direction.
This spoor turned abruptly back on itself for a few paces and then veered sharply up toward the foliage, 20 meters distant. The jaguar tracks followed, but the prey made it to the jungle in time. Once inside the protective cover of the rain forest the tapir could easily out maneuver the cat. The jaguar prints stopped, then turned back toward the wet sand where they resumed their course along the beach.
Biologist Charlie Foerster has been studying Baird's Tapirs (Tapirus bairdii) in the rain forest around Sirena in the Corcovado National Park since 1994. As many as 400 tapirs may inhabit the 420 square kilometer park, the highest density being found near Laguna Corcovado. His 20 square kilometer study area contains 17 radio collared Baird's tapirs and several uncollared young.
The research has unraveled many of the mysteries about these magnificent mammals, sometimes called "Danta, Macho de Monte" or "Tzmin." Tapirs have been eradicated from much of Costa Rica and are presently protected by the Costa Rican Wildlife Protection Law #7317. They are included in Appendix I of the CITES international treaty for the protection of endangered species.
I had the good fortune to spend three days with Charlie in his study area, in late January of 2003, where I met and photographed these impressive mammals, the largest in Central America. We were accompanied by my daughter Natalie and her two children Shawn 10 and Shamile 11. Those days we spent in Sirena will remain amongst my most treasured memories.
Previously, my closest encounter with a tapir in the wild had taken place 12 years earlier, also in the Corcovado National Park, at the San Pedrillo station. A mango tree near our campsite was bearing fruit and the ripe mangos were constantly plopping on the ground. In the night we were awakened by a large animal passing near our tents. It fled when we illuminated the area with flashlights. A careful search the next morning yielded a muddy collage of the distinct three-toed footprints characteristic of the danta. The park ranger explained that every night during mango season the large ungulates visit the tree and consume most of the fallen fruit leaving little for smaller mammals such as the agouti and the paca.
Charlie told me that the tapirs around Sirena, 26 kilometers southeast of San Pedrillo, do not eat mangos. He has even tried peeling the sweet succulent fruit for them, but to no avail. He tried other things including corn, avocados and water apples, but the tapirs still were not interested. Finally he discovered their weakness, bananas, which they eat with great relish. Curiously, none of the other researchers he has met, worldwide, have ever encountered tapirs that like bananas. The tapir's normal diet consists of foliage which they pull into their mouths with a long, trunk-like proboscis.
Bananas are ideal because they are cheap and readily available locally all year around. When Charlie needs to approach the tapirs to observe their state of health, check the radio collar or take photos, the lure of fresh bananas makes a nearly impossible task easy. By homing in on the signal transmitted by the collar he can get within 15 or 20 meters of his study animals, but that distance in thick foliage will only give him a glimpse. A trail of tossed bananas will entice the tapirs to come closer. One time he made the mistake of leaving a bunch of ripe bananas lying on the kitchen table only to be awakened at 2:00 AM by the munching sounds of a 340 kilo female named "Mamasota," meaning "Big Mama" in English. There was no convincing her to leave until the entire bunch of bananas was gone.
Charlie has noted another peculiarity about the Sirena tapirs. No other researchers have encountered any tendency of tapirs to group themselves into family units, but his tapirs show a definite affinity for kin. They also appear to have true affection and emotional involvement with each other. Big Mama was one of the first tapirs Charlie radio collared. He has known her for eight years. During that time she has given birth to six offspring. Her original mate was a large male called "Flash," so named because of a mark shaped like a lighting bolt on his rear-end. Three years ago Flash died, probably of old age, and Charlie buried him. For nearly three months Big Mama returned regularly to the grave site. "She would lie there like a grieving widow," recalls Charlie, "with her head laid out flat on the bare dirt covering her deceased mate's body."
Within a month of Flash's demise male tapirs began migrating into the area to court Mamasota. Flash's scent had disappeared from the territory he had once dominated and kept marked with feces and urine. Big Mama was definitely not in heat at the time and was, in fact, pregnant with Pinto, her last offspring by Flash. Nevertheless the courting went on for two months. It is not clear whether Big Mama chose the 4 to 5 year old male named "Thor," or whether he won some sort of a competition amongst the other aspirants. What is clear is that the other five males abruptly left the territory which Thor now keeps well marked with his own scent.
Nine days after Pinto's birth, Thor bred Mamasota. The mating resulted in pregnancy and the birth of a male offspring 13 months later. That baby was never named because he disappeared at about two months of age, possibly the victim of a jaguar or puma. Thor again mated with Big Mama, resulting in the birth of another male, this one named Nepal. Today Thor, Big Mama, four month old Nepal and three year old Pinto all occupy the same territory exclusively. During our three day visit I met and photographed the latter three. Thor was just across the river, but high water and large nasty-looking crocodiles dampened our ideas of wading over to look for him.
Water and mud is important to tapirs and they are never far from it. Their three-toed hoof is similar to that of the rhinoceros, to which they are related, and works well in mud. The best opportunity for observing tapirs in Sirena is near the river at dusk. They sleep in thick vegetation during the day and go out to forage at night. Near the end of the day when they wake up and move out, tapirs usually head straight for water. Charlie says that tapirs can remain submerged for several minutes. They will sink to the bottom of a clear pool and blow bubbles. On several occasions he has observed them doing this from a vantage point located directly above. He was amazed to see that the small fish in the pool swim over to the tapir and scour its thick hide for external parasites such as ticks and lice which the fish pick off and eat.
Charlie doesn't believe that Jaguars and Pumas are a serious threat to healthy adult tapirs. Notwithstanding the ungulate's awkward appearance, they can easily maneuver their large pig-shaped bodies through the thick jungle in a zig-zag pattern that the large cats can't follow. Also he showed me tapir skulls with wicked looking fangs that can do grave damage to an attacker. A caretaker at the Oklahoma City Zoo found out about those fangs when she made the nearly fatal mistake of walking between a baby tapir and its mother.
The enraged female bit the zoo attendant's upper arm severing it completely and then knocked her down and bit her on the shoulder and neck. Charlie knows first hand about enraged tapirs. After the death of Mamasota's first offspring by Thor she became so cantankerous that nobody could get near her, even with a peace offering of bananas. More than once he had to climb a tree to escape her fury and once the large female even attacked and bit the small tree where he was clinging. After Nepal was born, Mamasota calmed down and returned to her old amiable personality. Even so, when we photographed her, Charlie was careful to keep the four of us behind a large log, just in case. Photographing three year old Pinto presented little danger and nothing separated us from him but a few leaves and twigs. Seeing these endangered mammals and sharing their story was an experience I will not forget.
My interest in tapirs goes back to 1994 when a group of friends hiked across the Los Santos Reserve, between Santa Maria de Dota and a place called Brujo located at the junction of the Savegre and División rivers. During the hike they spotted a tapir and saw tapir tracks. The hikers were all members of ASANA, a local environmental organization. Prior to the tapir sightings the organization had begun a project aimed at restoring natural habitat to deforested areas, thus creating a biological corridor between the Los Santos Reserve to the northwest and the Osa Peninsula to the southeast. I live on Hacienda Barú National Wildlife Refuge near Dominical, which is located in the middle of the corridor. A hundred years ago tapirs abounded in the entire area, but habitat destruction and hunting destroyed them. To my knowledge, the last one seen on Hacienda Barú was killed by a hunter in 1957. Knowing that tapirs inhabit the forests at both ends of the corridor, we decided to name it the Path of the Tapir Biological Corridor (PTBC.)
An international project, the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor (MBC,) proposes to create a natural passage that extends from southern Mexico to southern Panama. The PTBC is the only section of the MBC that is situated on the Pacific side of the continental divide. ASANA is educating land owners and looking for opportunities and incentives that will encourage people to protect wildlife habitat and look for ways to connect patches of forest. If you own property, no matter where, protect the natural vegetation, especially along streams, wetlands and fence lines. If you wish to develop your property don't cut down natural forest to do so. Instead, build in areas that have already been altered and save the natural forests at all cost. Try to restore natural vegetation between isolated patches of forest. If you like seeing wildlife, you will be pleasantly surprised at the difference these corridors will make. For more information call ASANA at 787 02-54 (both English and Spanish are spoken) or e-mail asana@racsa.co.cr
Charlie Foerster is a totally dedicated and highly motivated independent researcher. He is not salaried by any university or other institution. He donates his own time to the Sirena Tapir Project and acquires funding for equipment with donations to the "Adopt a Tapir" program and the sale of T-shirts, plaster casts of foot prints and calendars with tapir photos. If you would like to help save the tapirs and, at the same time, acquire an attractive "Tapirs of Sirena" T-shirt for only $12, e-mail Charlie at crfoerster@aol.com.
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