Baird's Tapir

We had some great luck with tapirs during my two Costa Rica tours last month. The extension I offer on my tours takes us to Sirena Research Station in Corcovado National Park. Sirena is very rustic and somewhat difficult to reach, so you normally don't see groups come in for more than a day tour. We stay three nights, because as far as I'm concerned it's the best place in the entire country for wildlife, especially the Baird's tapir. I was fortunate that clients from both tours were adventurous enough to opt for Sirena, and we were certainly rewarded.

During the two visits, we had a couple of three-tapir days, including the best photo ops I've ever had with this species. Normally they find a nice cool mud hole in the jungle to wallow in during the day, but a couple times we had tapirs come out into the open right near the station. This big male spent considerable time grazing along the edge of the grassy runway that's cut out of the jungle, so we were able to sit down at a comfortable distance and shoot away for a few minutes.

Canon 1DX
Canon 300mm 2.8 IS + 1.4x TC
ISO 3200
1/320th
f/4

Max