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The mammal recorded again in Rio de Janeiro state is the lowland tapir (Tapirus terrestris). Camera traps documented tapirs in Cunhambebe State Park; the state authority says the last earlier record it cites was from 1914. That marks a return to the record in the state—not proof that tapirs vanished worldwide or that the animals survived continuously in the park.
What animal came back after 111 years?
It was the lowland tapir, a large mammal native to South America. The “111 years” framing comes from subtracting the last prior record cited by Rio de Janeiro’s environment authority (1914) from the year of the headline’s publication (2025). The authority’s own release describes the new records as coming after 100 years; the underlying dates are the clearest way to understand the interval. Rio de Janeiro State Secretariat for Environment and Sustainability reports the record and historical date.
“Lost” here means no later state record is cited in that account. It does not mean the lowland tapir was extinct globally, or establish that no unrecorded tapirs lived in Rio de Janeiro during the intervening period.
Where were the tapirs filmed, and what did the cameras capture?
The records came from Cunhambebe State Park, in the Costa Verde region of Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. The state authority says a camera-trap survey conducted from 2023 to 2024 produced 108 records from ten cameras. Some captures showed groups of up to three tapirs, and one showed a female with a calf. The agency said the records suggest a well-established local population, but camera-trap events are not a population census and do not reveal the animals’ identities or origins.
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The 1914 record cited by the authority was at Serra dos Órgãos National Park, a different location in the state. The earlier and newer records therefore establish sightings at two places, not a documented journey between them. The camera-trap sampling period is 2023–2024; the authority does not provide individual dates for every image.
Why were tapirs missing from the state’s records?
Rio de Janeiro’s environment authority names habitat loss, hunting and urbanization among the factors behind the tapir’s disappearance from state records. These pressures can reduce wildlife numbers and fragment habitat, making animals harder to encounter as well as threatening their survival.
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Cunhambebe State Park was created to help protect Atlantic Forest remnants, restore degraded areas and connect forested massifs, according to the Instituto Estadual do Ambiente (Inea). Inea lists the park’s area as 38,053.88 hectares. Protection and connectivity matter for wildlife that needs substantial, linked forest habitat, though the park’s role does not by itself explain how these particular tapirs arrived.
Did the tapirs survive there, disperse, or come from a reintroduction?
The records do not settle the animals’ origin. Two possibilities have been raised in secondary reporting: a remnant group may have persisted undetected, or tapirs may have moved into the area from elsewhere. Neither explanation is confirmed by the camera images or the state authority’s release.
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There is also a separate reintroduction effort in the region. IUCN Save Our Species describes Refauna’s lowland tapir reintroduction work as beginning in 2017 and reports 20 tapirs roaming the park and surrounding areas. That project-level figure is not an estimate of the individuals in the state’s 108 camera-trap records, and the available information does not identify the photographed animals as released tapirs.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Does this mean tapirs have returned to Brazil?
No. The report is specifically about Rio de Janeiro state, not the whole country. It documents tapirs in Cunhambebe State Park after a long gap in records cited for that state. It does not say that lowland tapirs disappeared from Brazil, nor does it establish the species’ global conservation status.
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What the rediscovery does—and does not—show
- Established: Rio de Janeiro’s environment authority reports 108 camera-trap records from ten cameras in Cunhambebe State Park, collected during 2023–2024.
- Suggested, not counted: The agency says the records suggest a well-established local population; they are not a census.
- Not established: The animals’ origin, whether they persisted locally throughout the period without records, whether they were reintroduced, and how they reached the park.
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