So far, he has taken conservation
 education to approximately 10,000
 Ecuadoreans since February, mainly in
 the states ofTungurahua and
 Chimborazo.
 He is intent to travel to more
 remote villages with his environmental
 education programs.
 He has succeeded in forming
 several Mountain Tapir Clubs in
 schools, and has assisted one school in
 building a model of T pinchaque habitat
 to express it as a "living sponge."
 Ruben has also given his program
 to 250 members of the police force in
 Riobamba, a location where poached
 tapir products are sold. They stated
 they were not aware ofthe laws
 concerning this species, and requested
 copies of the law, saying they would jail
 those in violation. They had heretofore
 not been told they should take
 impounded animals, live or dead, to
 the INEFAN office.
 While Craig Downer is
 continuing on with the scientific
 studies of T pinchaque in the
 Ecuadorean Andes, Ruben Nuiez's
 education efforts are an imperative part
 of the entire program.
 Any field research becomes
empowered when accompanied by
complementary environmental
education.
 Tapir Specialist Group members are
urged to write letters of concern.
Anyone receiving this newsletter is
aware of the desperate status of the
mountain tapir. A letter will officially
register growing concern about this
situation. The person to contact is:

 Dr. Jaime Enriquez, Director
 Areas Naturales y Vida Silvestre
 INEFAN
 Edificio de MAG 8 Piso
 Eloy Alfaro y Amazonas
 Quito, Ecuador

RuMbn Wilfrido NMZier Sdnch
Roca Fuere, 806Juan Leon Mera
Bario Ecoogico 5 dejunio
Banos, Tungurahua, Ecuador
Telephone:
5933 827-272
5933 740-581


Strong swimmer, this male mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque) battles raj
Palora in the Ands ofEcuador Photo @ opyrigh 1997 by Craig C. Downer.


Craig C. Downer's 1996/97
expedition to Ecuador
Much conservation work was
accomplished and many significant
contacts were made on Craig Downer's
1996/1997 trip to Ecuador. This year's
continuation of his ongoing work with
Tapiruspinchaque was funded by the
Tapir Preservation Fund and others.
Highlights from a long report on the
six-month expediton are noted:
 23 March 1997: We reached
several million viewers through the
"IA Television" program hosted by
Freddy Ehlers. Impact was especially
great because recent flooding resulting
in both human and animal fatalities
was shown to be exacerbated by
damage to highland soils and
extirpation of the seed-dispersing
mountain tapirs in some regions.
These animals were shown in situ using
excerpts from film footage I had shot
for Esperza, the Mountain Tapir,
produced by Richard Brock of Living
Planet Productions, Bristol, U.K. (For
orders call: +44-0117-974-1948.)
Close-up footage documents
destruction of the highlands by floods
and droughts due to deforestation and
overgrazing along with the role of the
mountain tapir in the survival ofits
habitat. This TV show, the most
popular in Ecuador, is put on by


"Teleamazonas," the national channel.
Enrique Bayas, Director of ecological
programming, expressed interest in
doing an hour documentary about the
mountain tapir in Sangay National
Park using its own video team.
 A segment similar to the above
was done, again with live interview, for
the AMBAVISION channel out of
Tungurahua's capital, Ambato.
 Numerous radio interviews were
given, including Radiofonica of
Riobamba, Radio Lider of Ambato, and
Voz del Sanctuario of Baios. These
interviews will be rebroadcast
throughout the northern Andean radio
network as well as internationally
(Radiofonica).
 *We gave numerous talks and slide-
lecture programs were given in person
to large and small groups of students.
These were developed and given by
myself in conjunction with Ruben
Nufiez, of Bafios, Tungurahua (see
report on Nuiez' work on page 13).
 As a result of our lectures, two
high schools are making models of the
Andean ecosystem as a "living sponge"
which intercepts and gravity feeds
water to all lower lying ecosystems,
including to the Amazon Basin and the
Atlantic and Pacific oceans. They have
begun to display these in market
places, bus terminals and other public
areas.


Newsletter of the IUCN/SSC Tapir Specialist Group Editor Sharon Matola P.O. Box 1787, Belize City, Belize E-mail BelizeZoo@btLnet

 page 14