The species has been reintroduced into Brazil's Atlantic Forest, the country's most at-risk ecosystem, and is of fundamental importance to the forest's recovery.
The tapir is a keystone species — that is, one of those species fundamental to the ecosystem upon whose presence that of many others depends. These oddly shaped and bizarre creatures, the last representatives of the ancient order of perissodactyls, are therefore capable of literally shaping the environment they inhabit. Tapirs swallow fruit seeds, cover great distances, cross different habitats and defecate along their routes, dispersing seeds and encouraging the creation of a flow of plant genetic material between habitats, particularly the most degraded ones, as a study from last year demonstrated.
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Their presence is therefore extremely important, both for ensuring the maintenance of plant and animal biodiversity, and for countering the effects of climate change, guaranteeing the survival of large trees (whose seeds can only be dispersed by large animals) capable of storing greater quantities of carbon. For these reasons, the birth of the first South American tapir (Tapirus terrestris) in over a century in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil, one of the nation's most degraded ecosystems, has been greeted with joy and satisfaction.
The cub, captured on a camera trap, was spotted in the Guapiaçu ecological reserve in the Atlantic Forest, near Rio de Janeiro. The birth is thought to date back to January and confirms the success of the species reintroduction programme launched eight years ago. The cubs could soon become two — the images also show a female tapir that appears to be pregnant.
Since 2017, seven captive-bred tapirs, four males and three females, have been reintroduced into the forest as part of the Refauna programme, led by a group of researchers from the Federal Institute for Education, Science and Technology of Rio de Janeiro. "The whole team is very happy," said Maron Galliez, professor of biology heading the programme. "Now we know the project is moving in the right direction."
To illustrate the numerous positive effects generated by the return of the tapirs, whose presence is set to accelerate the restoration of a degraded natural habitat, the Guardian drew an apt comparison with the wolves of Yellowstone and the beavers in the United Kingdom.
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The reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone Park in 1995 did indeed radically alter the appearance of the environment and its physical geography, encouraging, among other things, a decline in deer populations and the consequent increase in vegetation, with a series of positive cascade effects across the entire ecosystem. An analogous rapid and remarkable environmental restoration is now taking place in the United Kingdom, where, after centuries of absence, the beaver has returned. These large rodents, thanks to their engineering skills, have a positive impact on vegetation, on numerous wildlife species and on water quality, and are even capable of reducing the risk of flooding.
In the same way, the return of the tapirs can encourage the restoration of the Atlantic Forest, a vast forested area that once extended for over one million square kilometres along the eastern coast of Brazil and Argentina. The forest has been steadily depleted and fragmented by deforestation and urban expansion, which have drastically reduced its extent.
Read also: The jaguar population is growing in Iguazú National Park
Despite this impoverishment, this ecosystem still holds global importance today, by virtue of its capacity to sequester large quantities of carbon and to host a great variety of wildlife species, including the jaguar, whose population is finally growing. The tapir could soon join them on a permanent basis, having been completely absent from the state of Rio de Janeiro since 2014. "The birth of a tapir in the wild indicates the formation of a population in the state," explained Galliez. "This is essential for restoring the proper functioning of the ecosystem."
Tapirs are therefore the best gardeners the Atlantic Forest could wish for — efficient and economical, capable of dispersing a great variety of seeds from over twenty different plant species, and even of pruning branches and leaves. Their numbers, the researchers warn, are however still extremely low, and further efforts will be needed to increase the population and protect their habitat from the pressure exerted, in particular, by the agri-food industry.