TAPIR FIELD VETERINARY MANUAL - Tapir Specialist Group

3. Capture Methods
The capture technique(s) to be adopted should be planned very carefully in order to minimize
stress and injure hazard to the animals. It should assure safety for the animal and personnel
involved in the operation. Moreover, it should be adequate to the procedures that
determined the need for capture, such as biological sample collection, marking, radiotransmitter
placement, transport, translocation etc. Data such as the species to be captured,
local environmental conditions, crew and equipment transport, and the field assistant
capabilities, should be regarded while choosing the capture method. Whatever the method,
best results are achieved after placing baits to attract the animals, salt or native forest fruits
usually are functional options.
In order to capture and chemically restrain free-ranging tapirs it is absolutely vital that the
personnel involved is well-trained and prepared to operate as a team. The experience of
local hunters and ranchers can be most useful. Capture stress and traumas are intrinsic risks
of the handling of wild tapirs, however a well-planned capture method and the selection of a
safe chemical restraint protocol can significantly reduce these risks.
3.1. Anesthetic Dart Shooting
In some instances it is possible to capture tapirs by shooting the animals with darts
containing anesthetic solutions, from a platform built near a spot where the bait is placed, or
from the ground. Compressed air or carbon oxide guns should be used to rush the darts.
The bait should be placed at up to 10 meters away from the platform, which should prevent
trajectory errors. Fire systems are not recommended, for the noise would startle the animal.
Long waiting periods should be expected. The success of the method is influenced by the
species activity period. Tapirs are often active during dawn and dusk, when poor lightning
lowers the precision of both the shot and body weight estimation. Light bulbs for
supplementary lightning may be of use. Additionally, anesthetic drugs usually demand up to
15 minutes for the induction. During this period, an escaping animal is more prone to suffer
trauma due to the effects of the anesthetic, and may eventually go somewhere it cannot be
found. Alternatively, a transmitter dart can be used. The advantages of this method are the
possibility of capturing the individual again later, requirement of few field assistants, and
logistic feasibility. This method was successfully used by Charles R. Foerster and
Sonia Hernandez-Divers to capture Baird’s tapirs in Corcovado National Park,
Costa Rica. This method was also used to capture/recapture 5 lowland tapirs in
Morro do Diabo State Park and surrounding Atlantic Forest fragments in São
Paulo State, Brazil (Patrícia Medici and Paulo Rogerio Mangini, IPÊ - Instituto de
Pesquisas Ecológicas).
Further details about this capture method are provided in:
Capture and Immobilization of Free-Living Baird’s Tapirs (Tapirus bairdii) for an Ecological Study in
Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica - 2001 - Sonia Hernández-Divers and Charles R. Foerster - Zoological Restraint
and Anesthesia, D. Heard (Ed.) - International Veterinary Information Service (www.ivis.org), Ithaca, New York, USA.