One thing is what is believed, and another reality. There is no extinction. When everything seemed lost, the jungle refused to forget. What for more than a century was just a blurred memory in scientific reports now Walk, breathe and leave traces On the wet ground.
The cameras hidden among the trees could not lie: the South American tapirthe elusive giant of the Kill Atlantiche had returned. Not one, not two, but Three exemplars. And not anywhere, but in the same forests where I thought extinct since 1914.
The Forest Gardener returns to his home
He CUNHAMBEE STATE PARK (PEC)a 38,000 hectare shelter created in 2008 to protect what remained of a fragmented ecosystem, became the unexpected scenario of this revelation. There, in the dense thickness, the trap cameras recorded 108 images and videos of a Tapir female next to her young.
The news, published by Forum magazine and Agência Brazilhe stunned conservationists and scientists who They had been assuming that the species had disappeared from Rio de Janeiro.
This finding is no accident. The expansion of urbanization, the deforestation and the poaching They had pushed these animals on the verge of disappearance in the region. But the resistance of nature to be erased from the map is powerful.
Marcelo CuplloBiologist of State Environment Institute (INEA)it is clear: “The spontaneous return of the Tapirs demonstrates that the forests of Rio de Janeiro can still house large mammals.” A return that is not only a survival testimony, but of the ability of Atlantic Mata to restore.
A resistance symbol in the jungle
Throughout the last century, the South American tapir became a emblematic species of the environmental crisis In Brazil. His absence symbolized the loss of balance in the ecosystem, but his return points in another direction.
His role in the forest is crucial: how Forest gardenerdispersed seeds through their depositions, helping the regeneration of the flora. From INEA they explain that his presence confirms the existence of functional ecological corridorsallowing the movement and interaction of species in an increasingly broken and damaged territory.
The dissemination of images on social networks, with the Tapirs approaching curious to the camera in the middle of the night, triggered the emotion between biologists and environmentalists. The reappearance of these animals in Cunhambebe demonstrates that conservation efforts They have not been in vain. “This finding reinforces the importance of protected areas and conservation efforts in the recovery of emblematic species,” they said from INEA. Places like this park not only protect the tapirs, but they act as Last bastion for a fauna threatened by human activity.
He Tapir Sudamerican is not alone in his struggle for survival. It is one of the four species of its kind in the world, along with the Baird Tapir, the Andean Tapir and the Tapir Malayo, all in danger. Able to reach 300 kilos, this animal, the largest mammal in South Americanot only dominates the jungle at the earth’s level, but he is also a surprising swimmer, using his elongated snout as a breathing tube. His resistance and adaptability They have been key to their survival, but their reappearance in Brazil shows that habitat protection remains the best strategy to avoid its definitive disappearance.
Although Atlantic Mata has been one of the regions most punished by human activity, its recovery capacity continues to surprise. The reappearance of the tapir is not just a scientific discovery; It is proof that, even when it is lost, life always finds a way to return.
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