Nicaragua to open first tapir sighting park for scientific purposes

San Jose, Aug 18 (EFE).- Nicaragua will open its first park dedicated to tapirs, an endangered species in the country, for scientific purposes, the national zoo’s former director said Friday.

Nicaragua will be the second country in Central America to take this initiative after Costa Rica, contributing to the conservation of this species, of which some 400 specimens live in the wild in the country, where their situation is “critical,” according to Eduardo Sacasa.

The sighting of tapirs will last at least three days in its initial phase, he indicated.

The trip can be carried out in the mountains of a farm next to the El Delta del Estero Real nature reserve, El Viejo municipality, Chinandega department, 200 kilometers northwest of Managua, where six tapirs born in captivity have already been released.

Tapirs have a gestation period of up to 13 months and feed on vegetables, fruit and herbs, and can live in captivity from 35 years to 40 years, while in the wild their life expectancy is reduced to 12 years or 13 years due to predators, Sacasa said.

Sacasa, who has been contributing to the conservation of this species for more than 25 years, said it would be a great step to preserve the species and repopulate the Chinandega area with tapirs, where they ceased to exist 150 years ago due to unregulated hunting. EFE

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