Mongabay*1 “New species of tapir discovered in south-west Amazon” http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/dec/17/new-species-tapir-discovered
伯剌西爾とコロンビア国境地帯のジャングルで獏の新種が発見された。21世紀が始まって10年ちょっとしか経っていないのに、記事では、早くも「（字義的な意味で）21世紀最大の動物学的発見のひとつ」としている*2。ただし、学者が気づいていないだけで、地元民は昔からこの獏を日常的に狩猟していた。
この獏を日常的に狩猟してきた Karitiana族については、
In what will likely be considered one of the biggest (literally) zoological discoveries of the 21st century, scientists today announced they have discovered a new species of tapir in Brazil and Colombia. The new mammal, hidden from science but known to local indigenous tribes, is actually one of the biggest animals on the continent, although it's still the smallest living tapir. Described in the Journal of Mammology, the scientists have named the new tapir Tapirus kabomani after the name for "tapir" in the local Paumari language: "Arabo kabomani."Tapirus kabomani, or the Kobomani tapir, is the fifth tapir found in the world and the first to be discovered since 1865. It is also the first mammal in the order Perissodactyla (which includes tapirs, rhinos, and horses) found in over a hundred years. Moreover, this is the largest land mammal to be uncovered in decades: in 1992 scientists discovered the saola in Vietnam and Cambodia, a rainforest bovine that is about the same size as the new tapir.
Found inhabiting open grasslands and forests in the southwest Amazon (the Brazilian states of Rondônia and Amazonas, as well as the Colombian department of Amazonas), the new species is regularly hunted by the Karitiana tribe who call it the "little black tapir." The new species is most similar to the Brazilian tapir (Tapirus terrestris), but sports darker hair and is significantly smaller: while a Brazilian tapir can weigh up to 320 kilograms (710 pounds), the Kabomani weighs-in around 110 kilograms (240 pounds). Given its relatively small size it likely won't be long till conservationists christen it the pygmy or dwarf tapir. It also has shorter legs, a distinctly-shaped skull, and a less prominent crest.
"[Indigenous people] traditionally reported seeing what they called 'a different kind of anta [tapir in Portuguese].' However, the scientific community has never paid much attention to the fact, stating that it was always the same Tapirus terrestris," explains lead author Mario Cozzuol, the paleontologist who first started investigating the new species ten years ago. "They did not give value to local knowledge and thought the locals were wrong. Knowledge of the local community needs to be taken into account and that's what we did in our study, which culminated in the discovery of a new species to science."
Joshua Project
http://www.joshuaproject.net/people-profile.php?rog3=BR&peo3=11102
Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karitiana_people
さて、「獏」という鍵言葉で検索すると、出てくるのは動物ではなく、沖縄生まれの詩人（山之口獏）が圧倒的に多いことに驚いた。詩人ではなく動物学的存在としての獏については、
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapir
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%90%E3%82%AF
夢を食べる「獏」については、
http://www5e.biglobe.ne.jp/~c-panda/94638474/
*2:最近発見された新種の哺乳類では最も大きな種である。
