Here we have used collection localities from museum specimens to generate a predicted distribution for the tapir, Tapirus terrestris, in the country of Bolivia. We then mapped the current protected area network in Bolivia, to see how ‘protected’ this unique South American mammal really is. The distribution model was generated using MaxEnt freeware based on locality data obtained from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and the Rapid Assessment Program. The area colored in red represents the zone where MaxEnt predicts the right environmental conditions for the occurrence of tapirs. The pale grey area represents the current extent of Bolivia ’s national system of protected areas. This integration of museum biodiversity data (in this case, tapir occurrences), ecological modelling techniques (here using MaxEnt), and geographical data layers (satellite image of Bolivia, protected areas of Bolivia) can be used to assess the amount of habitat that falls within current protected area networks for any species of interest. Since protected areas are one of the primary conservation tools for maintaining global biodiversity, its critically important to know which species are protected within conservation networks.