Daily and seasonal activity of the mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque) in the Central Andes of Colombia Diego J. Lizcano 1 and Jaime Cavelier 1,2 * 1 Laboratorio de Ecologõ a Vegetal, Departamento de Ciencias Biolo  gicas, Universidad de los Andes, AA 4976, Bogota Â, Colombia 2 Wildlife Conservation Society, 185th Street and Southern Boulevard, Bronx, New York, NY 10460, U.S.A. (Accepted 27 October 1999) Abstract Daily and seasonal activity of the mountain tapir Tapirus pinchaque was measured along trails and at two salt licks in mature and secondary montane forests of the Central Andes of Colombia using active and passive infrared monitors. Daily activity of the mountain tapir showed a clear bimodal pattern, with maxima during the early hours of the day (5:00±7:00) and early hours of the evening (18:00±20:00). This bimodal activity pattern has also been found in radio-tracking studies of T. terrestris and T. bairdii. Overall, there was more activity in mature than in secondary forest and at lower (3100 m) than higher altitudes (3600 m). Night-time activity was higher during full moon than during quarter and new moons. There was no correlation between monthly rainfall and seasonal activity. The time the mountain tapir was at the salt licks varied between 1 and 190 min. Daily activity at Quebrada Paraiso salt lick (3400 m) showed a clear bimodal pattern with maxima around midnight (0:00±2:00) and midday (11:00±14:00). These patterns of diurnal and nocturnal activity of the mountain tapir could be used in combination with future radio-tracking studies to better understand habitat use by this species. Key words: mountain tapir, Tapirus pinchaque, activity, Colombia INTRODUCTION There are three species of tapirs (Tapiridae) in the Neotropics (Tapirus bairdii, T. pinchaque and T. terrestris) and one in Asia (T. indicus). Of these species, the least known is the mountain tapir (T. pinchaque) which occurs in the high Andes (2200±4800 m) of Colombia (Acosta, Cavelier & London Ä o, 1996), Ecuador (Downer, 1996) and northern Peru (T. Lerner, pers. comm.). The mountain tapir is the smallest of all species, and is currently threatened by hunting and the destruction of its habitats, tropical montane forests and `paramos' (i.e. neotropical alpine plant formations; IUCN, 1996; Brooks, Bodmer & Matola, 1997). Although informa- tion has been obtained on the mountain tapir's diet (Hershkovitz, 1954; Acosta et al., 1996; Downer, 1996), distribution (Hershkovitz, 1954; Lizcano & Cavelier, 1999), home range (Downer, 1996) and behaviour in captivity (Shauenberg, 1969), little is known about its movements in its natural habitats (Downer, 1997). In Colombia, it has been hypothesized that the mountain tapir is more active at higher altitudes (i.e. paramos and the upper limit of montane forests) during the dry season, while during the wet season, activity increases at lower altitudes. Apparently, horse ¯y (Tabanidae) abundance during the dry season at lower altitudes forces tapirs to move to paramos (Acosta et al., 1996). In Ecuador, a 1-year radio tracking study showed that there was more activity during the wet season in a cloud forest than in the paramo (Downer, 1996), supporting the hypothesis of seasonal altitudinal movements. Former tapir hunters have suggested that habitat use may correlate with moon phases, with more use at higher altitudes during the full moon (N. Monsalve, pers. comm.). In the cloud forests and wet paramos of Ecuador (3200±4200 m), daily activity of a young mountain tapir (3±10 years old) was higher during the morning (07:00±09:00) and late afternoon± evening (15:00±21:00). In the same study, activity of a mature individual was higher during the night but showed no de®ned peaks (Downer, 1996). Preliminary results of a study of Amazonian tapir T. terrestris in Brazil, suggested that activity is higher between 18:30± 00:00 (P. Medici, pers. comm.). These results support the idea that tapirs, can be active both during the day and night (van Schaik & Grif®ths, 1996). In the present study, we measured the activity of the mountain tapir during 1997 in mature and secondary montane forests (3100 m and 3600 m) of the Central Andes of Colombia using active and passive infrared *All correspondence to: Jaime Cavelier, 2828 Connecticut Avenue NW, Apartment 608, Washington, DC 20008, U.S.A. E-mail: jcavelie@earthlink.net J. Zool., Lond. (2000) 252, 429±435 # 2000 The Zoological Society of London Printed in the United Kingdom