Tapir Sanctuary in Kinchil May Open by Year’s End

A long-planned sanctuary for endangered tapirs in the municipality of Kinchil could finally open by the end of this year, once a small group of animals arriving from Guatemala clears Mexico’s health inspections.

The Santuario del Tapir has been years in the making. It’s run by a Unidad de Manejo para la Conservación de Vida Silvestre, or UMA, a type of wildlife management unit recognized under Mexican law, working alongside Mexico’s environment ministry, Semarnat. Together they’ve restored 10 hectares, about 25 acres, of land for the project, work that’s expected to help other native plants and animals recover in the area as well.

The sanctuary’s main purpose is breeding tapirs for eventual release back into Yucatán’s wild spaces, though it may also take in other animals that need rehabilitation. When it opens, the UMA will start with one male and two females, with room to eventually house four breeding pairs.

Tapirs were once a familiar sight across Yucatán, but their numbers have dropped sharply over the past several decades due to habitat loss. Semarnat has said the animals need a period of adjustment before they can be reintroduced to the wild. The physical infrastructure is reportedly ready to go, but sanitary requirements for importing the animals from Guatemala have held up the opening. Semarnat now expects operations to begin sometime before the end of the year.

According to the sanctuary’s official website, the project will also run environmental education programs for nearby communities and schools, aiming to build public support for its conservation work.

The site sits about 9 miles from Celestún, close to both the El Palmar state ecological reserve and the Ría Celestún Biosphere Reserve. Organizers see the location as well-suited to reintroducing tapirs, and hope the project will also support reforestation and encourage other species that have disappeared from the area to return. The surrounding coast is already a well-established ecotourism destination, which backers say could help draw attention to the sanctuary’s mission.

Baird’s tapir, the species native to the Yucatán Peninsula, is [listed as endangered](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/baird-s-tapir) due to habitat loss, fragmentation and hunting across its range in Mexico and Central America. It’s the largest native land mammal in the region, and conservationists have flagged it as a priority species given how few individuals remain.

The Kinchil project was first announced [several years ago](https://yucatanmagazine.com/tapirs-take-center-stage-in-a-new-conservation-initiative/), when it drew an initial 15 million pesos (about US$750,000) in private investment, with government funding expected to follow. It’s unclear from available reporting how much additional funding has come through since, or exactly how the sanitary review process for the incoming Guatemalan tapirs is progressing — details worth watching for as the opening date approaches.

If the timeline holds, Kinchil would become one of the few places in Yucatán where residents and visitors can see the species up close, while supporting an effort to bring it back to the wild.

With reporting by La Jornada Maya, with additional context from Yucatán Magazine’s prior coverage and National Geographic.