Abstract

TRILLANES, Carlos E. et al. Body condition score in Baird’s tapir (Tapirus bairdii) from camera trapping data in the Lacandon Rain Forest, Mexico. Acta univ [online]. 2023, vol.33, e3890.  Epub Mar 08, 2024. ISSN 2007-9621.  https://doi.org/10.15174/au.2023.3890.

A modified version of the body condition score, a non-invasive technique, was applied to assess the health of Baird’s tapirs (Tapirus bairdii) through photo-trapping records obtained in 2019-2020 from pristine sites within Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve (MABR) and two nearby rain forest fragments (ejido reserves [ER]) with moderate disturbance. Among the 40 records assessed, those corresponding to body conditions 3 (regular, n = 22, 55%) and 4 (strong, n = 16, 40%) were more frequent than those of conditions 2 (thin, n = 2, 5%), 1 (emaciated, n = 0, 0%), and 5 (obese, n = 0, 0%). There were no differences in record frequencies between sites, nor were there differences between the records of this study and those from a previous survey (2015) in the study area. The role of RE in maintaining healthy tapirs in the Lacandon Rainforest and the use of photo-trapping to estimate their body condition in a non-invasive way are discussed.

Keywords : Body condition; photo-trapping; habitat fragmentation; Lacandon Rainforest; Tapirus bairdii.

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