CONSERVATION Tapir Conservation n The Newsletter of the IUCN/SSC Tapir Specialist Group n Vol. 22 n No. 31 n Dec 2013 5 CONSERVATION Camera-trap Records of Mountain Tapir in Puracé National Park, Colombia Sebastián Duque López 1,2 , Melissa Abud 1,3 , Humberto Calero Mejia 1,4 and Stephany Valderrama 1,5 1 Universidad del Valle, Fundación Samanea, Cali, Colombia. 2 Email: gaiacarryon@gmail.com 3 Email: restauracionpacifico@gmail.com 4 Email: humcame@gmail.com 5 Email: svalderrama4@gmail.com Introduction M ountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque, Roulin 1829) is one of the four species that represent the Tapiridae family in the world. It is distributed in the Ecuadorian, Peruvian and Colombian Andes (Lizcano et al. 2006). It is currently classified as an endangered species by the IUCN Red List (Lizcano et al. 2006) and gaps in population ecology and natural history still exist (Lizcano et al. 2005). The gathering of information contributing to the local management of mountain tapir populations is essential. Puracé National Park (PNP) is a protected area located in a massif where the Central and Eastern Andes Mountains of Colombia merge (Lizcano et al. 2002). Mountain tapirs have been reported in the PNP by several studies describing footprints, browsing, scats and fortuitous sightings (Sandoval 2004, Sanchez 2005, Abud 2010, Hernández-Guzmán et al. 2010). Studies have described vegetation of the mountain tapir habitat and some plants found in its diet (Sanchez 2005, Acosta & Ramirez 2006, Diaz 2008, Abud 2010). The main threats to the species are habitat loss due to livestock and agriculture (Sandoval 2004, Sanchez 2005). Through camera-trapping approach we have updated the records of the mountain tapir and reported daily activity and capture frequency for the area. Based on our observations, we proposed useful body traits for individual identification. Additional records of other mammals are also reported. Materials and methods T he study was carried out within the PNP – Cusiyaco Lagoon (1°54’52”N - 76°37’30.90”W) in the southern part of the protected area, at an altitude between 3200 and 3400 meters (Figure 1). Temperature ranges between 3 and 18 °C and rainfall between 1200 and 2500 mm per year. The ecosystem is classified as an ecotone between high-Andean forest and paramo (Amaya et al. 2007). Twelve cameras were deployed in singular-camera stations during September-December 2010 (87 days). Camera traps consisted of heat-in motion digital cameras (Cuddeback Capture model). The distance between each camera was 350 m, which is half of the radius of the mountain tapir’s home range estimated by Lizcano & Cavelier (2004). Camera batteries and memory cards were changed between 20-30 days. After the first month, six cameras were moved to enlarge the sampling area (Figure 1). Camera trap station locations were chosen based on the existence of a tapir path with footprints, scats, evidence of browsing, and the proximity to streams. The photographs were classified with the help of local mammalogists, guides and available geographical distribution for the species. Mountain tapir photographs were classified as independent events following the O’Brien et al. (2003) criteria. Capture frequency relative to sampling effort and daily activity were estimated using the independent events. We selected the right flank of the mountain tapir for individual identification because of the large proportion of photos including this side of the animal. Figure 1. Puracé National Park (PNP) location in Colombia. Close up box shows the sampling area (solid black line) and the camera- trapping stations (triangles).