Extremely rare animal believed to be extinct spotted in the wild for first time in over 100 years

Sunday 9th March 2025

Extremely rare animal believed to be extinct spotted in the wild for first time in over 100 years

After over a century of being considered regionally extinct, the South American tapir was spotted alive and well in Brazil in footage blowing up online.

In January, concealed cameras captured not one, but three of the trunk-toting rhinoceros relatives roaming the country’s Atlantic forest, DiarioAS reported.

“This challenge reflects the importance of protected areas and conservation efforts in the recovery of emblematic species” declared a spokesperson for Rio de Janeiro’s State Environmental Institute (INEA), which set up the camera traps.

Jonathan Downes
Cryptozoologist, naturalist, musician, singer, composer, poet, novelist and Director of the Centre for Fortean Zoology since 1992. Jon was born in Portsmouth in 1959 and spent his infancy in Nigeria and his childhood in Hong Kong. His wife Corinna died of cancer in 2020, leaving him with two stepdaughters and a six year old granddaughter called Evelyn.