Is the Andean Tapir (Tapirus pinchaque) Present in the Mamapacha Massif (Boyacá, Colombia)?

Abstract

Mountain or Andean tapirs (Tapirus pinchaque) inhabit the niche of montane rain forest and paramos, at elevations between 2000 to 4500m in the Northern Andes. Before 1500 AD, the species probably extended throughout the Eastern and Central cordilleras of the Northern Andes, in the territory of what are now Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela. Recently, this distribution has been severely reduced and the population fragmented because of human activities such as deforestation, agriculture, cattle ranching, establishment of slums and cities, over-hunting and road building, leading the species to be classified as critically endangered. In Colombia the species has been identified in several Andean forest patches of variable size, from the Andean Massif in the department of Nariño to the southern limit of the Los Nevados National Park and from the departments of Quindío and Tolima as the northern limit in the central Cordillera, and the Sumapaz National Park in the department of Cundinamarca as the northern limit in the eastern Cordillera. However, its presence has recently been reported in the south of the department of Boyacá, located north of Sumapaz. The Mamapacha Massif in the department of Boyacá, is the most representative fragment of montane rain forest and paramo in the region, and has a total area of 27,511.77 hectares distributed among five municipalities.