Near a Mountain Tapir

Since I began my work with tapir conservation seven years ago, I always wanted a picture side by side with a tapir, no matter if at some zoo or if in the wild. It finally came to pass in 2005 when a baby mountain tapir was rescued from the traffic by the environmental authorities in the south of my country. I traveled several miles to a place were the animal was kept in a small enclosure, near the town of Pitalito, in the Huila province of Colombia. I took lots of pictures, but I liked this one. I don’t know what exactly has happen with this tapir, but the last news were that it was going to be released and radio-tracked near or inside an Andean national park. Recently I saw a picture taken by a veterinarian. It shows the baby tapir, not so baby now, but a young adult. It has lost their stripes almost completely. I will try to get some of those recent pictures.