It’s the national animal, but the Baird’s tapir is more than that: it’s the largest mammal in the wild and it’s also on the endangered list. And that’s why the call today that a tapir had been knocked down on the Boom Road was distressing. And while he was found on the road, Jacqueline Godwin discovered that this death was no accident.
Jacqueline Godwin Reporting,
Dead tapirs found along the roadside are usually victims of traffic incidents but the scene that 7NEWS came upon this morning was downright intentional, cold bloodied and a total disrespect to the national animal of Belize. The tapir locally known as the mountain cow was lying on the right hand side about three miles into the Burrell Boom Hattieville Road. The carcass was still warm that suggests the animal killed shortly before we arrived at the location. A closer inspection revealed a wound just under the tapir’s belly by its rear right leg and a severe injury to the head.
At first it was believed that the animal may have been struck by a vehicle as it tried to cross the road but then a shocking discovery was made when it was determined that it was no accident that caused the initial wound. Fragments of a hallow point bullet were removed. Equally disturbing the female tapir is believed to have been pregnant when it was shot. The animal after being struck in the nearby forest then wandered out to the roadside when it is believed it was hit by a vehicle and died.
According to the Belize Audubon Society this is tapir mating seasons and there will be frequent sightings of Belize’s largest wild mammal. But it is an endangered specie that is protected under the Wildlife Protection Act which means it is illegal to hunt or kill a tapir as what is believed to have happened in this case.
Derrick Chan, Conservationist - Chiquibul National Park
“But you know it sad to see them being killed just like that on the road. This is a female and apparently it could be pregnant. Her belly is very
big and it is warm. It was just killed probably a couple of hours ago.”
According to Derrick Chan a conservationist with the Chiquibul National Park, the animal was found in an area where five other tapirs were killed. The location provides an ideal habitat for the tapir because of the forest that exist along the waterways in the Belize District but these animals have become vulnerable due to land clearing for housing development.
Derrick Chan,
“Which means that they are in high numbers in this type of habitat around here which is interesting to know that however drivers must be more careful in terms of driving on the streets, I mean on the highway, knocking down the animals. One it is dangerous but these animals are wild they just cross the road anytime. When something like this happens, it needs to be recorded you know so that in the future we can see how these animals behave, habitats and numbers and that kind of thing and at the same time, it is dead already so it needs to be moved into an area where it can decomposed and in the future its skull and maybe the bones even the entire skeleton can be recovered for education purposes and those kinds of things.”
We do not know if the Forestry Department will try to preserve the animals remains but the Chief Executive Officer Allan Usher says they will investigate the case.
Alan Usher, CEO - Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment
“We retrieve these samples, I will make a report to the Forest Department which falls within the responsibility of the Ministry of Natural Resources and have them send someone out to investigate more closely and also to see if we could discover what eventually, what caused the death and indeed we have sufficient evidence to believe that the animal was indeed shot. The shot was not fatal we believe and perhaps it was subsequently hit by a vehicle.”
Usher was on his way to work when he arrived on the scene.
Alan Usher,
“To have such a mature, such a fine specimen. It appeared to be in very very good health prior to being shot and as I am saying we believe it was hit by a vehicle.”
It is estimated that tapir which was fully grown weighed between six to eight hundred pounds. Jacqueline Godwin for 7NEWS.
According to area residents this is the fourth tapir to be killed on that same stretch of road in the past 5 years.
