Insights into the multiannual home range of a Baird's tapir (Tapirus bairdii) in the Maya Forest

Abstract

We report home range estimates of an individual Baird's tapir (Tapirus bairdii) recorded from May 7, 2011 to September 2015 at the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve in Southern Mexico. The tapir was captured and equipped with a VHF collar in a pond within the reserve. The signal failed to transmit in the following month but with the help of a network of camera traps deployed in nearby water bodies we monitored this individual during four years and a half. We have estimated home range by the Minimum convex polygon method and also by constructing a buffer around camera traps locations where this animal was photo-captured. With few available records (<30) but spanned over four years the Minimum convex polygon estimate for all locations resulted in 23.9 km2. When we constructed a buffer around camera trap locations we estimated a home range of 39.9 km2 with a core area of 4.1 km2. Maximum distance dispersed from this tapir was 10.5 km from its original location. The home range estimates reported here are larger than previously reported for this species. This is the first report on the home range, travel capacity, and distances for the Baird's tapir in the Calakmul Region.