Tapir (Tapirus terrestris)

Photo: Miguel Licona

Name:  Tapir

Local name: Tapir, Sachavaca

Scientific name:  Tapirus terrestris

Characteristics:    

1. Weight 320 kg. Size 2.2 m. Height 1 m.
2. Small trunk in the snout.
3. Short and rough horsehair along the nape.
4. Forelimbs with 4 toes and hindlimbs with 3. They walk on their hooves.
5. Bad eyesight but excellent sense of hearing and smell.

Habitat and behavior: Terrestrial. Mainly nocturnal, but also diurnal. Solitary but they congregate during the mating season at mammal claylicks, specially near creek beds and swamps with dense brush. In flooded forests tapirs prefer palm swamps.

Diet: Tapirs feed on herbs, acuatic vegetation, leaves, shoots, soft branches, fruits, etc. They cut them with their sharp teeth and pull them with their long snout. The tapir has a single stomach with a chamber holding microorganisms to digest the cellulose. They are an important seed disperser.

Reproduction habits: Females give birth to only 1 offspring every 1 ½ years. Juvenile tapirs are grey with white spots that disappear when they turn 6 months old. Sexual maturity is reached after 2-3 years.

Curiosities: Biggest terrestrial vertebrate in the Amazon. Tapirs have existed in South America since the Pleistocene (2 million years ago). 20 million years ago members of the genus Tapirus already existed in the northern hemisphere and their descendants have changed very little. The tapir belongs to its own taxonomic family - Tapiridae. Tapirs can also be found in the tropical rainforests of southeast Asia. And in prehistoric times, they occured in Europe and North America, but were hunted to extinction. As it walks along the forest, its short legs and barrel-like body allows the tapir to go through brush at high speeds. Tapirs are great swimmers. They are easily domesticated by locals. Main predators are the jaguar, the black caiman and humans.