We live in age when it feels like everything has been discovered. Humans have walked on the moon, poked around the deepest ocean floor, and tramped all over Earth's deserts, rainforests, caves, mountains, rivers, and plains. In a time when nothing seems new, it is extremely exciting to learn of a previously unknown species, especially one as big as a tapir. Such discoveries nudge the door to possibility back open and remind us that the universe is still full of mystery and beauty waiting to be found.
Tapirus kabomani, the newly discovered dwarf tapir, was made famous by Cozzuol et al. in December 2013. It was introduced by a Brazilian research team led by Mario A. Cozzuol. Despite some solid evidence of the new species, the scientific community isn't entirely sold on T. kabomani's existence yet. This is where researchers Vincent A. Vos and Huascar Bustillos Cayoja Riberalta come in.
We are very excited to be sponsoring Vos and Riberalta's search for the dark dwarf tapir in Bolivia. It's not every day we get to be part of a quest to verify an entirely new species. The research journey will take Vos and Riberalta into Amazon rainforests where they will use modern scientific methods and ancient local knowledge to find proof of the dwarf tapir in Bolivia.
If you'd like to be part of this quest, please donate. Your contribution helps make it all possible. All donations up to a total of $750.00 will be matched by TPF using donations from The Heidi Frohring Memorial Fund (see the project budget below). Thanks so much for being part of this exciting venture!
Click here to learn more about Vincent Vos and Huascar Bustillos Cayoja.
and The Tapir Preservation Fund
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