The tapir is a quadruped animal with a short trunk – like elephants – but strong and small – like wild boars. There are four subspecies, and the Malayan is the only one that does not live on the American continent. He, like his relatives, is in danger of extinction. The main threats to their survival are habitat loss and hunting. There are barely 2,500 individuals left in the world. Since 2003, it has been part of the Endangered Species Program, which makes efforts to increase its population: there are 23 entities attached to this initiative and one of them is in Spain, in the center of Fuengirola.
With such a small number, and a fragmented territory, the species is also losing genetic diversity due to inbreeding. This is confirmed by its declining trend. This is where the work of zoos and nature conservation centers comes into play. Under the coordination of the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums (EAZA), the BIOPARC of Fuengirola is at the forefront of conservation work for the Malayan tapir.
The center actively participates in the Malayan tapir recovery plan, and houses Mekong and Rawa, a young couple of six and seven years old respectively. There have already been some reproductive approaches but they have not been fruitful. Due to the particularities of the female, they wait until August to find out if she is pregnant or not.
[Así es el ‘fósil viviente’ que puede llegar a los 50 años: está en peligro de extinción y es pariente de los dinosaurios]
Jesús Recuero, veterinarian and technical director of BIOPARC Fuengirola, explains his work: “Since the 80s and 90s, zoos began to change. Right now we are one of the most important tools for biodiversity conservation. All these EAZA programs They are financed thanks to the contributions that the institutions obtain from the sale of tickets. and they save species that people may not even know about.
Contrary to some of the criticisms leveled against these animal centers due to the captivity situation in which the animals are found, the majority try to contribute to the recovery of biodiversity. The current regulations explain the triple function to be performed by zoos: conservation, research and education. Thanks to public awareness that does not view some practices favorably, these institutions are increasingly focusing on animal welfare.
An example is the case of pandas bears. According to some scientists, they are mammals at an evolutionary dead end: They are too adapted to a specific habitat, the high mountain bamboo forests in China. They cannot feed on anything else, and their reproduction rate is very low. However, thanks to the conservation efforts in which several fauna conservationists have participated, including the one in Madrid, which raised a family and was sent back to China. Now, the Madrid zoo has received a new couple to repeat the process.
Tapirs are adapted to a humid, jungle habitat.
Other centers do not do the same and still maintain bad practices. From Intercids, a legal association in defense of animal rights, they denounce that the update of the law has hardly brought about a change in the consideration of zoos. María G. Lacabex, a lawyer who is a member of the group, recalls that the previous 2003 law defined zoos as establishments where they keep animals alive “for your exhibition”.
And regarding the 2023 update: “It has not brought any changes in that sense. In reality, it has rather confirmed the mercantilist model of zoos, allowing the continuity of the exhibition of animals and even their use in showslike those of cetaceans in aquariums.”
However, one of the points defended by zoos is the need to obtain funding for the programs. Given this, Lacabex calls the public financing of administrations for the conservation of threatened species and biodiversity.
Lacabex says: “It is not logical that the maintenance of programs aimed at a purpose of public interest depends on the income of an activity whose purpose is profit. Much less when that activity consists precisely of perpetuating the captivity of animals, against their well-being.”
Replicate wild conditions
In the mountains of Cantabria there is a reference in conservation tasks: the zoo Cabárceno, —dependent on the Cantabria tourism office—, an example to follow with international recognition. Its facilities extend over 750 hectares. And they have achieved several milestones in the reproduction of elephants in captivity or the largest sample of bears in Europe, with 90 individuals. The bears’ enclosure is 35 hectares where there are caves where they hibernate. The Cabárceno bears maintain a natural life cycle without alterations.
Achieving excellence in conservation is not easy, nor is it easy to count achievements, which go beyond the total number of specimens that live in the facilities. Other factors such as the health status of the animals, their history or their reproduction must also be considered. The coordinator of veterinary services, Santiago Borrogán, takes pride in the center’s methodology that seeks to create functional flocks “avoiding having pairs or trios, which is frequently seen in other zoos.”
As an example of success, Borrogán mentions elephants and their reproduction without assistance: “It is a heterogeneous group with adult males and females, as well as young people and calves of various ages, who interact with each other and They follow behavioral patterns very similar to those they would have in freedom.”. And he concludes that the system works because “Cabárceno is the place outside of Africa where the most African elephants have been born in captivity.”
Elephants live in conditions similar to their natural habitat.
Zoos seek to cover three legs; conservation, education and research. For the transmission of knowledge, they have a complete program of educational activities aimed at schools and other educational institutions with differentiated content for different levels of schoolchildren, from 3 to 18 years old. And to acquire new knowledge, the facility participates in a significant number of studies and analyzes carried out in collaboration with other parks and zoos, as well as universities, associations and research centers around the world.
Zoos are not exhibitors
Despite everything, there is extensive debate about the function of zoos. In contrast to the excellent practices of centers such as Cabárceno, Bioparc or the London Zoo, there is an endless stream of news of bad practices. Animals crammed into ridiculously small spaces, lack of veterinary care, or psychological stress due to the conditions are some of the most common complaints. That’s usually proportional to the reputation of the center and the funds they can obtain with their commercial activity.
[La ‘irremediable’ extinción de más de un millón de especies: el exterminio que nadie ve]
The Foundation for Advice and Action in Defense of Animals (FAADA) believes that zoos have to be fully justified, and the majority of the collections (as zoos call their animals) are animals that are not in danger of extinction.
Andrea Torres, coordinator of the FAADA Wild Animals Department, says that zoos were born to exhibit exotic animals; hence they are called collections: “Over time they have evolved, as society has also evolved.” Although for her the 2023 zoo law is already obsolete. He says it is very poorly detailed, does not clearly define basic concepts and does not differentiate between zoos, circuses and private collections.
Torres says that many of the Conservation projects are not enough reason to justify the rest of the animals locked up. With regard to education, it is difficult to learn the natural behaviors of animals in captivity and often in conditions so opposite to natural reality.
Dolphins in the wild do not remain in a single area throughout their lives.
If you do not know what you have, you neither value it nor protect it. Many times zoos are the closest contact we have with nature. Within the protection and recovery plans to which the zoo association is also attached include habitat recovery projects, help for local communities and territorial regeneration. The greatest threat to nature is man and it is only in his power to conserve it.