Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Rivero, Marina
• de la Torre, J. Antonio
• Camacho, Gamaliel
• Naranjo, Eduardo J.
• Tobler, Mathias W.
• Jordan, Christopher A.
• Medellín, Rodrigo A.
• Reyna-Hurtado, Rafael

Titel

Tapirs in trouble: estimating Baird's tapir densities in the Sierra Madre de Chiapas, Mexico

Ist Teil von

• Oryx, 2022-05, Vol.56 (3), p.373-382

Ort / Verlag

Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press

Erscheinungsjahr

2022

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Spatial capture–recapture models have been widely used to estimate densities of species where individuals can be uniquely identified, but alternatives have been developed for estimation of densities for unmarked populations. In this study we used camera-trap records from 2018 to estimate densities of a species that does not always have individually identifiable marks, Baird's tapir Tapirus bairdii, in the Sierra Madre de Chiapas, southern Mexico. We compared the performance of the spatial capture–recapture model with spatial mark–resight and random encounter models. The density of Baird's tapir did not differ significantly between the three models. The estimate of density was highest using the random encounter model (26/100 km2, 95% CI 12–41) and lowest using the capture–recapture model (8/100 km2, 95% CI 4–16). The estimate from the spatial mark–resight model was 10/100 km2 (95% CI 8–14), which had the lowest coefficient of variation, indicating a higher precision than with the other models. Using a second set of camera-trap data, collected in 2015–2016, we created occupancy models and extrapolated density to areas with potential occupancy of Baird's tapir, to generate a population estimate for the whole Sierra Madre de Chiapas. Our findings indicate the need to strengthen, and possibly expand, the protected areas of southern Mexico and to develop an action plan to ensure the conservation of Baird's tapir.