A group of three American tourist and their Costa Rican guide were able to capture today a video of a young tapir (Tapirus bairdii) bathing in a sector of the Celeste River in the Tenorio Volcano National Park in Guanacaste (video included at the end of the article).

The tourism guide in an interview with local journalist Allan Jara, explains that the video was taken when it had just began to rain and one of the tourists noticed the beautiful mammal and brought it to the attention of the group that was surprised and amazed by the wonderful scene.

Just about one year ago another group of visitors had a similar experience in the same location.

Tapirs are a species in risk of extinction in Costa Rica and are considered as such by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which is why coming across one of them in their natural ecosystem is very rare. Tapirs are the biggest land mammal that inhabits the neotropical realm. In Costa Rica it is usually found both in the lowlands, (Guanacaste and Corcovado) as well as highlands such as the Cerro de la Muerte.

Costa Rican biologist Esteban Brenes from the Nãī Conservation Organization (Nãī means Tapir in BriBri language) explained in an article published by ENSIA online magazine that Tapirs being fruit – eating animals help disperse the seeds of the trees in the tropical forests. “There is research linking the loss of large herbivores like tapirs to the loss of a forest’s capacity to suck carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in leaves, wood and roots”.