Record of Baird’s tapir Tapirus bairdii at the La Suerte Biological Field Station in the Caribbean lowlands of Costa Rica.
Widely recognized as the largest terrestrial mammal in the Neotropics, the globally endangered, IUCN Red-listed, Baird’s tapir Tapirus bairdii has been in a continual decline due to habitat loss, localized hunting, and their low reproductive rates. Because of its ecological role, the loss of this species is likely to have a cascading effect on a number of species that are important to the ecological functioning of the remaining fragments of tropical forests across Central America. As efforts continue to identify regions where this species still persists throughout its known range, we report here a new record of T. bairdii in the Caribbean lowlands of northeast Costa Rica. Although T. bairdii may have historical existed in the region surrounding the field station, they were believed to be extirpated with only anecdotal reports suggesting their continued existence.