Researchers who filmed dog attacks on endangered mountain tapirs in Colombia are urging measures to safeguard at-risk wildlife. The WILD Campo Silvestre team, along with the Tiger Cats Conservation Initiative and the Fundación Caipora, used camera traps to capture footage of two attacks in the Campoalegre Soil Conservation District, Santa Rosa de Cabal in a two-month period. The attacks involved domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris).) were seen pursuing and attacking mountain tapirs (Tapirus pinchaque) in a protected area of the Central Andes. These pictures were later featured in a research paper released by the open-access journal, Neotropical Biology and Conservation.
The research provides valuable insights into the impact of pet dogs on wildlife, especially on species like the mountain tapir that are in need of conservation. The authors emphasize the urgent necessity for managing and controlling the population of domestic dogs inside and around protected areas.
Conservation efforts such as spaying and vaccination programs for stray and owned dogs can help address this issue.The use of owned dogs near natural reserves has recently been implemented to protect the endangered clouded tiger cat (Leopardus pardinoides) in the area. The research team suggests that these measures should also be applied to Campo Alegre and the surrounding lands. Juan Camilo Cepeda-Duque, the lead author of the study, stated that domestic dog intrusion into protected areas poses a global threat to wildlife. This is a challenging issue to address due to the social dilemma of controlling dog populations. Dogs can contribute to the extinction of vertebrate species, disrupt the balance of predator dynamics, and cause harm to the overall ecosystem.”have the potential to collapse entire ecological communities,” he continues.
The mountain tapir is a symbol of the Andean cloud forest, globally classified as ‘Endangered’ by the IUCN Red List due to habitat loss and poaching. The presence and aggressive behavior of domestic dogs not only threaten the physical well-being of these tapirs but also their reproductive performance, foraging efficiency, and overall population health due to increased stress, potential for disease transmission, and alterations in habitat use.
The research team highlights that their observations are not isolated cases, as locals often encountThe dogs have been observed chasing and attacking mountain tapirs and cattle, and no juvenile mountain tapirs were found during the survey. The NGO WILD Nature Foundation has created a new protected area in the northern part of the Campoalegre Soil Conservation District to protect the habitat of mountain tapirs and the remaining populations of the fuerte’s parrot (Hapalopsittaca fuertesi) in the region. The reserve is also implementing a unique restoration program, planting thousands of trees to reclaim the land that was previously cleared for establishment.The establishment of cattle ranching has had significant impacts on the environment and wildlife. A recent study documented the first report of domestic dog attacks on globally threatened mountain tapirs in the high Andean cloud forests of Colombia. The study was published in the journal Neotropical Biology and Conservation in 2024. The researchers highlighted the importance of understanding and addressing the interactions between domestic animals and endangered wildlife in these ecosystems. The publication can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/neotropical.19.e117437.