82 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 69 



between Gatun and Bas Obispo. Alston (1879, p. 103) quotes 

 Captain Dow as authority for the statement that the favorite haunts 

 of Baird's tapir " appear to be in the hills lying at the back of Lion 

 Hill and the adjoining stations of the Panama Railway. It is only 

 during the rainy season that they seem to seek the lowlands ; for it is 

 only at that season that they are captured. They are not hunted by 

 the natives ; and it is only when they happen to stray out into the open 

 spaces of the railway that the young ones are sometimes captured 

 alive and the old ones shot." The species remained common in the 

 locality mentioned by Dow until by the recent completion of the 

 Gatun Dam much of the area has been submerged. During the con- 

 struction of the Panama Canal I was surprised to find tapirs inhabit- 

 ing the forested areas immediately along the canal route where they 

 seemed to be comparatively unmindful of the heavy blasting and 

 constant movement of men and material. They frequently visited 

 the Mount Hope Reservoir near Colon and the Agua Clara Reservoir 

 near Gatun, apparently enjoying the immunity from molestation 

 afforded by the enforced regulations prohibiting trespassing by the 

 general public on neighboring watersheds. 



On the Pirre range in extreme eastern Panama trails made in the 

 forest and regularly used by tapirs were seen at various elevations 

 on steep slopes, and along the tops of the highest ridges. These 

 well-beaten routes were filled with the characteristic tracks of the 

 animals deeply impressed in the muddy ground. Viewed from a 

 short distance they resemble cattle trails. As the trails here show, 

 the rather clumsy looking tapir is able to climb up and down pre- 

 cipitous places ; but in the bottom of a narrow gorge I came upon the 

 body of one that had evidently been killed by a fall from the hill- 

 side above. Climbing up and examining the slope I was able to 

 locate the exact spot where in attempting to pass across the face of a 

 steep bank, the loose wet soil and leaves covering the underlying clay 

 had slipped from beneath its feet, and in spite of some struggles to 

 regain its balance the tapir had tumbled about 200 feet. Decomposi- 

 tion of the body was well advanced, but there were no indications 

 that carnivorous animals larger than beetles and larval flies had fed 

 upon the flesh. 



These tapirs are very shy and seldom venture outside of the denser 

 forest cover. When frightened or pursued by dogs they rush vio- 

 lently through tangled thickets, breaking down vines and other vege- 

 tation barring the way. At low elevations near San Miguel Bay 

 I saw places where the tapirs had wallowed in muddy pools in the 

 forest. Tapirs have occasionally been killed in the Canal Zone by 



