Cerro Negro: An Important Mountain Tapir Conservation Area in the Piuran Andes, Piura and Cajamarca States, NW Peru

Craig C. Downer

Articles

Vol. 18 No. 25 (2009)

Cerro Negro: An Important Mountain Tapir Conservation Area in the Piuran Andes, Piura and Cajamarca States, NW Peru

Craig C. Downer^▸^▾

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Submitted: 8 July 2025
Published: 2009-06-01

Abstract

Local Peruvians along with the Andean Tapir Fund are working together to establish a nature sanctuary in the Piuran Cordillera (a.k.a. Cordillera de las Lagunillas) of NW Peru, but must counter the designs of large mining companies. The sanctuary would center around Cerro Negro mountain and be located in both Piura and Cajamarca states. This area contains Peru’s most crucial remaining occupied habitat for the endangered mountain tapir. It is also in the ecologically significant Huancabamba Depression, a region of high species endemism that provides a vital water source for a vast region whose rivers extend east to the Amazon and west to the Pacific, to parts of Ecuador as well as Peru. This sanctuary would provide a biological corridor connecting the mountain tapir population here found, and those of other rare/declining species, by means of free passage to the north, to Ecuador and beyond.

References

Amanzo, J. et al. 2003 (December). Evaluacion Biologica Rapida del Santuario Nacional Tabaconas Namballe. WWF-Peru, Lima.
Appenzeller, T. 2007 (June). The Big Thaw. National Geographic. Pp. 56-71. Washington, D.C.
Brack Egg, A. & Vargas, C. M.. 2004. Ecologia del Perú. Editorial Bruno, Lima. (495 pp).
CEPA (Conservation des Especes et de Populations Animales). 2006 (Dec.). Projet de creation d‘une aire protegee pour le tapir de montagne dans le nord-oest du Perou. CEPA
Magazine No. 15. Pp 14-15. Fresnes, France. Cavelier, J., Lizcano, D. Yerena, E. & Downer,.C. In press. The mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque) and Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus): the two largest mammals in South American tropical montane cloud forests. Proceedings: „Mountains in the Mist“ conference on cloud forests of the world organized by University of Hawaii, Waimea, Hawaii. July-Aug, 2004.
Davis, S.D., Heywood, V.H., Herrera-MacBryde, O., Villa-Lobos, J. & Hamilton, A.C. 1997. Centres of Plant Diversity: A Guide and Strategy for their Conservation. Volume 3: The Americas. WWF & IUCN. See Pp. 465-469, Huancabamba Region, Peru & Ecuador, (Tropical) Andes:
CPD Site SA32. IUCN Publications Unit. Cambridge, U.K. (562 pp.)
Downer, C. C. 1988-2006. Field reports with descriptive species lists. Files of Andean Tapir Fund, P.O. Box 456, Minden, NV 89423 USA
Downer, C. C. 1988. Peruvian Mountain Tapir Trip Reports with Species Lists. April & August. Unpublished manuscripts. University of. Durham-UK (Department of Biology). April: Report: 21 pp, Species list: 5 pp; August: Report: 27 pp, Species list: 5 pp.
Downer, C. C. 1996. The mountain tapir, endangered ‘flagship“ species of the high Andes. Oryx 30(1): 45-58.
Downer, C. C. 1997. Status and Action Plan for the Mountain Tapir (Tapirus pinchaque).In: Tapirs: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan (D.M. Brooks, R.E. Bodmer, S.M. Matola, Eds.). IUCN SSC Tapir Specialist Group, Gland, Switzerland.
Downer, C. C. 2001. Observations on the diet and habitat of the mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque). Journal of Zoology, London 254:279-291.
Downer, C. C. 2005 (December). Agonia de los Tapires de Montaña/Agony of the Mountain Tapirs. Rumbos de Sol y Piedra, Año IX, No. 44, pages 34-48, with color photographs. (Bilingual).
Downer, C. C. 2006 (Febr. 6). INSIGHTS: Mining Peru’s Andean Forests Puts Unique Species, Ecosystem at Risk. Environment News Service: http://www.ensnewswire.com/ens/feb2006/2006-02-06-insdow.asp
Duellman, W.E. & Wild, .E.R. 1993. Anuran amphibians from the Cordillera de Huancabamba, northern Peru: systematics, ecology, and biogeography. Occasional. Papers: Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas 157:1-53.
ENS (Environment News Service) 2007 (10/10/07). Peruvians Vote 95% to Save Andean Forests from Mining. www.ensnewswire.com IUCN. 1996/2002. 1996/2002 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland Switzerland.
Lizcano, D. J. & Sissa, A.. 2003 (June). Notes on the Distribution and Conservation Status of Mountain Tapir (Tapirus pinchaque) in North Peru. Tapir Conservation, Vol.12, No. 1, pages 21-24. IUCN Species Survival Commission, Tapir Specialist Group.
Parker III, T.A., Schulenberg, T.S., Graves, G.R. & Braun, M..J.. 1985. The avifauna of the Huancabamba region, northern Peru. Ornithological Monographs 36:169-197.
Ridgely, R.S. & Tudor, G. 1989. Volume I: The Oscine Passerines. The Birds of South America. University of Texas Press, Austin. (516 pp.).
Ridgely, R.S. & Tudor, G. 1994. Volume II: The Suboscine Passerines. The Birds of South America. University of Texas Press, Austin. (814 pp.).
Salazar, M. 2007 (Sept. 12). Peru: Mining Project Hurting Highland Ecosystem. www.ipsnews.net/print.asp?idnews=39233
Torres-Guevara, F. 2003. Mineria Metalica bajo El Niño en Piura: Injustificado Riesgo para su Vida y Desarrollo. Colectivo Piura, Vida y Agro “Godofredo Garcia Baca”, Piura, Peru. (174 pp.)
Torres-Guevara, F. 2006. Escenario de Riesgo para el Agua y la Biodiversidad: Pretension de mineria metalica en las cuencas del norte del Peru. Colectivo Piura, Vida y Agro “Godofredo Garcia Baca”, Piura, Peru. (159 pp.).
Zegarra-Pezo, A. A. 1985-2006. Reports, articles, species lists and photographs from montane forests and paramos of Cordillera de las Lagunillas. Files: Pro-Norte Peru, Sullana, Piura, Peru.
Zegarra-Pezo, A. A. 2006. Lista Preliminar de Especies de Fauna Registradas en Cerro Negro y Anexos, Ayabaca-Piura, Peru. Unpublished manuscript. Andean Tapir Fund-US. 33 pp.

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Keywords

Andes
Biological corridor
Endangered species
Mining
Mountain tapir
Nature sanctuary
Peru
Piura

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Downer, C. C. (2009). Cerro Negro: An Important Mountain Tapir Conservation Area in the Piuran Andes, Piura and Cajamarca States, NW Peru. Tapir Conservation, 18(25), 36-39. http://www.tapirconservation.org/index.php/tc/article/view/119

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[1] Amanzo, J. et al. 2003 (December). Evaluacion Biologica Rapida del Santuario Nacional Tabaconas Namballe. WWF-Peru, Lima.

[2] Appenzeller, T. 2007 (June). The Big Thaw. National Geographic. Pp. 56-71. Washington, D.C.

[3] Brack Egg, A. & Vargas, C. M.. 2004. Ecologia del Perú. Editorial Bruno, Lima. (495 pp).

[4] CEPA (Conservation des Especes et de Populations Animales). 2006 (Dec.). Projet de creation d‘une aire protegee pour le tapir de montagne dans le nord-oest du Perou. CEPA

[5] Magazine No. 15. Pp 14-15. Fresnes, France. Cavelier, J., Lizcano, D. Yerena, E. & Downer,.C. In press. The mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque) and Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus): the two largest mammals in South American tropical montane cloud forests. Proceedings: „Mountains in the Mist“ conference on cloud forests of the world organized by University of Hawaii, Waimea, Hawaii. July-Aug, 2004.

[6] Davis, S.D., Heywood, V.H., Herrera-MacBryde, O., Villa-Lobos, J. & Hamilton, A.C. 1997. Centres of Plant Diversity: A Guide and Strategy for their Conservation. Volume 3: The Americas. WWF & IUCN. See Pp. 465-469, Huancabamba Region, Peru & Ecuador, (Tropical) Andes:

[7] CPD Site SA32. IUCN Publications Unit. Cambridge, U.K. (562 pp.)

[8] Downer, C. C. 1988-2006. Field reports with descriptive species lists. Files of Andean Tapir Fund, P.O. Box 456, Minden, NV 89423 USA

[9] Downer, C. C. 1988. Peruvian Mountain Tapir Trip Reports with Species Lists. April & August. Unpublished manuscripts. University of. Durham-UK (Department of Biology). April: Report: 21 pp, Species list: 5 pp; August: Report: 27 pp, Species list: 5 pp.

[10] Downer, C. C. 1996. The mountain tapir, endangered ‘flagship“ species of the high Andes. Oryx 30(1): 45-58.

[11] Downer, C. C. 1997. Status and Action Plan for the Mountain Tapir (Tapirus pinchaque).In: Tapirs: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan (D.M. Brooks, R.E. Bodmer, S.M. Matola, Eds.). IUCN SSC Tapir Specialist Group, Gland, Switzerland.

[12] Downer, C. C. 2001. Observations on the diet and habitat of the mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque). Journal of Zoology, London 254:279-291.

[13] Downer, C. C. 2005 (December). Agonia de los Tapires de Montaña/Agony of the Mountain Tapirs. Rumbos de Sol y Piedra, Año IX, No. 44, pages 34-48, with color photographs. (Bilingual).

[14] Downer, C. C. 2006 (Febr. 6). INSIGHTS: Mining Peru’s Andean Forests Puts Unique Species, Ecosystem at Risk. Environment News Service: http://www.ensnewswire.com/ens/feb2006/2006-02-06-insdow.asp

[15] Duellman, W.E. & Wild, .E.R. 1993. Anuran amphibians from the Cordillera de Huancabamba, northern Peru: systematics, ecology, and biogeography. Occasional. Papers: Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas 157:1-53.

[16] ENS (Environment News Service) 2007 (10/10/07). Peruvians Vote 95% to Save Andean Forests from Mining. www.ensnewswire.com IUCN. 1996/2002. 1996/2002 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland Switzerland.

[17] Lizcano, D. J. & Sissa, A.. 2003 (June). Notes on the Distribution and Conservation Status of Mountain Tapir (Tapirus pinchaque) in North Peru. Tapir Conservation, Vol.12, No. 1, pages 21-24. IUCN Species Survival Commission, Tapir Specialist Group.

[18] Parker III, T.A., Schulenberg, T.S., Graves, G.R. & Braun, M..J.. 1985. The avifauna of the Huancabamba region, northern Peru. Ornithological Monographs 36:169-197.

[19] Ridgely, R.S. & Tudor, G. 1989. Volume I: The Oscine Passerines. The Birds of South America. University of Texas Press, Austin. (516 pp.).

[20] Ridgely, R.S. & Tudor, G. 1994. Volume II: The Suboscine Passerines. The Birds of South America. University of Texas Press, Austin. (814 pp.).

[21] Salazar, M. 2007 (Sept. 12). Peru: Mining Project Hurting Highland Ecosystem. www.ipsnews.net/print.asp?idnews=39233

[22] Torres-Guevara, F. 2003. Mineria Metalica bajo El Niño en Piura: Injustificado Riesgo para su Vida y Desarrollo. Colectivo Piura, Vida y Agro “Godofredo Garcia Baca”, Piura, Peru. (174 pp.)

[23] Torres-Guevara, F. 2006. Escenario de Riesgo para el Agua y la Biodiversidad: Pretension de mineria metalica en las cuencas del norte del Peru. Colectivo Piura, Vida y Agro “Godofredo Garcia Baca”, Piura, Peru. (159 pp.).

[24] Zegarra-Pezo, A. A. 1985-2006. Reports, articles, species lists and photographs from montane forests and paramos of Cordillera de las Lagunillas. Files: Pro-Norte Peru, Sullana, Piura, Peru.

[25] Zegarra-Pezo, A. A. 2006. Lista Preliminar de Especies de Fauna Registradas en Cerro Negro y Anexos, Ayabaca-Piura, Peru. Unpublished manuscript. Andean Tapir Fund-US. 33 pp.