What Can Tapir Poop Teach Us About Healthy Forests?

The Baird’s tapir is the largest land mammal living in the Mexican Selva Maya, which is the largest tropical forest in America after the Amazon. Tapirs are herbivores that play a key role in maintaining the health of tropical forests by dispersing seeds in their feces (poop). Tapirs are mysterious, silent, and nocturnal characteristics that make them difficult to study. In our research, we analyzed the microbes in tapirs’ feces to understand the health of tapir populations in the Mexican Selva Maya. We found that a large amount of variety in tapirs’ fecal microbes is associated with a healthy tropical forest ecosystem. Maybe the analysis of the fecal microbes of wildlife can be used as a gentle technique to help us understand the health status of animals and the environments in which they live.