cattle do not exist. (Rabinowitz and
Fuller in conversation with Salas).
e Pumas andjaguars seem to eat their
prey differently, which can be helpful
in identifying which animal either
killed or scavenged a tapir.
* It would be a significant finding to
prove that a healthy adult tapir was
killed by a cat.
* DNA and PCR testing though very
expensive, can determine individual
prey and predators, sexes, diseases in
predators and even home ranges.
(Kohn, Michael; Wayne, Bob; Trends
in Ecology and Evolution. 1997.
12(6):223-227).
a Reseach such as the long-term
project of Charles Foerster in Costa
Rica, may help determine age-specific
or stage-specific mortality rates.

Edited frmn semral numbers qfTapir Talk
Daniel M. Brooks
Ecotropix@aoL com
Leonardo Salas
/o Todd K Fuller
kfuller@fonild.umas.edu



Earthwatch

grants, 1998-99
The Center for Field Research invites
proposals for 1998-99 field grants
funded by its affiliate, Earthwatch.
Earthwatch is an international, non-
profit organization dedicated to
sponsoring field research and
promoting public education in the
sciences and humanities. Past projects
have included, but are not limited to:
animal behavior, biodiversity, ecology,
endangered species, and resource and
wildlife management. Interdisciplinary
projects are especially encouraged as is
multinational collaboration.
Information can be found at
http//www.earthwatch.org/cf/cficrhtml,
or contact:

The Centerfor Field Research
680 Mt. Auburn Street
Watetown, MA 02272 USA
Phone (617) 926-8200
Fax (617) 926-8532
fr@earthwautckorg


Letters from

Chiapas

INSTITUTE D HISTORIC iNATURAiL I
DEPRTAMENTOE ZOOOA







STuxllo Guftdrrez, ChipO . eco.
During this past year, Dr. Miguel
Alvarez del Toro passed away. For many
years he had been Director of the
Instiruto de Historia Natural, Departa-
mento de Zoologia, the zoo in Ttutla
Gutierrez, Chiapas, Mxico. Dr.
Alvarez del Toro was also an outstand-
ing conservationist. In our next issue
we will present a tribute to his life and
work, along with a discussion of the
Baird's tapir breeding program he
started at his zoo in the 1950s and
carried on for decades. In this issue,
however, I would like to share with the
tapir community excerpts from two
letters from him that I've treasured for
many years. Both indicate a man
observant and questioning. I always
appreciated the time he was willing to
take to talk about these animals.

February, 1973
 "Last year, in May, I had an
 experience with tapirs in the wild. One
 night one pair of big ones rushed our
 camp, stomped out the fire, crashed
 many things, bit at the tents, etc. When
 we finally crawled out of the tents, they
 remained some few meters distant in
 the full light of the lamps, whistling
 and stamping their feet on the ground.
 At last they walked slowly back to the
 forest and left us wondering why they
 behaved that way."

 July24, 1973
 "The encephalomyelitis epizootic
 that swept this state some years ago
 killed five of the seven tapirs we had.
 They showed more or less the same
 symptoms as horses with such diseases;
 they kept walking in short circles and
 sometimes rushed headlong against


fences, bit wires, poles, etc. Actually, in
this way they were unlike horses; that
is, the tapirs got somewhat furious.
Finally, they became weaker and
weaker until death arrived; at the end,
the skin turned deep red.
 "One interesting thing is the fact
that as soon as they got sick, the two
that would survive went into the deep
mud of the moats, sticking out only
their nostrils. They stayed this way for
twelve days, all day and night, not
feeding. I thought they were at the
point of death, but I was surprised.
During the thirteenth day, they came
out very weak and shaking, but started
to feed on fallen leaves. So they started
to live again and to this day are strong
and normal. I always thought the cold
of the mud must have kept down the
fever, and so they recovered. However,
the veterinarians said 'No, no, no.' So?
 "Six months later, the female gave
birth, a stillbirth, and the male looked
impotent for some time. Eventually,
they both recovered; they had a baby
male, born this January."

Submitted by
Sheryl Todd
tapir@tapback.cm



Requests
Anyone knowing of captive T bairdii
anywhere in Nicaragua, please contact
Sharon Matola (see contact info on
front page).
 Dr. Francisco Galindo requests
information on anesthetics and tapir
behavior. See description and contact
info. on page 2.
 Sheryl Todd requests two types of
photos. These can be good xerox
copies.
 1. Photos of any T terretris adult for
which location in the wild (or capture
location) is known. If the tapir is
captive, location of capture of of wild
ancestors should be obtainable.
 2. Photos ofjuveniles (up to about 4
months) of all species where location of
origin or country of captured ancestors
is known.
 See contact info. on front page.


Nenlettr of the IUCN/SSC Tapir Specialist Group Editorn Sharon Matala P.O. Box 1787, Beliz City, Belize E-ail: BelizeZoo@btlnet
 page 3