Classification

• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Chordata
• Class: Mammalia
• Order: Perissodactyla
• Family: Tapiridae
• Genus: Tapirus
• Species: Tapirus terrestris

Geographic Range

Neotropical: Venezuela and Colombia south to southern Brazil, northern Argentina, Paraguay, east of the Andes

Physical Characteristics

Mass: 150 to 250 kg.

Tapirus terrestris is 77 to 108cm at the shoulder. The total body length of females ranges to 221cm, and of males to
204cm. The tail is a short stump of approximately 8cm. The hindfeet have three hooved toes and the forefeet have an
additional, much reduced, fourth toe. Coloration varies from tan to black or red. The undersides and short legs are
generally dark and the cheeks, throat, and ear edges are often lighter in color. A black mane extends from the forehead
to the midback. One of the most distinguishable characteristics of the Brazilian tapir is its proboscis, which is long, flexible,
prehensile, and covered with sensory vibrissae. A tall sagittal crest makes the head appear convex. Females have a single
pair of mammary glands. Young are colored quite differently from the adults; they are dark brown and have white spots
and stripes.

Natural History

Food Habits
Tapirs are generalized browsers and grazers. They eat fruits, leaves, stems, sprouts, small branches, grasses, aquatic plants,
tree bark, aquatic organisms, and cane, melon, cocoa, rice, and corn from plantations. The bulk of their diet is green shoots
of common browse plants.

Reproduction
Estrous occurs at intervals of 50 to 80 days and lasts two days. Mates attract by producing squealing and clicking calls.
Their mates do not stay together long. Copulation occurs in or outside of water. Gestation ranges from 335 to 439 days.
Twins have been observed, but usually one young is born. Solid food does not become a large part of the diet of the young
until several weeks after birth; the young nurse as long as the mother is able to produce milk. Growth is completed at 18
months. Captive females have reached sexual maturity in 23 months. The oldest known breeding individual, a captive, was
bred at 28 years. Captives have lived 35 years.

Behavior
During the daylight hours, the Brazilian tapir remains hidden in forests and thick brush. At night this animal emerges to feed
in grassland or scrubland. The daily movements of the tapirs produce well-worn paths that are used by hunters to track
these animals. The tapir takes regular waterbaths and mudbaths which are thought to help it rid itself of ectoparasites.

Tapirus terrestris is generally solitary, and is only found in groups during the mating season. Males tend to urinate regulary
in particular spots; this may be a form of communication with conspecifics. They may also posses facial glands used to scent
mark. Tapirus terrestris exhibits a Flehmen response when it picks up the scent of another tapir.

Predators of the tapir include man, crocodilians, and jaguars. When surprised or frightened, tapirs will plunge into the water
or brush. They are able to gallop, swim, and climb well.

Vocalizations include a shrill call, used to convey fear, pain, and appeasement, a click that may be used to identify
conspecifics, and a snort that signifies aggression.

The tapir is easily domesticated.

Habitat
The Brazilian tapir is found near rivers in mesic, transitional, and humid forest. Its typical habitat includes areas that have
a rainfall of 2000 to 4000 mm, an average temperature of 27.4 degrees Celsius, and a relative humidity of 75 percent.

Biomes: tropical rainforest, tropical deciduous forest, tropical scrub forest

Economic Importance for Humans

Positive
The Brazilian tapir may play a key role in neotropical ecosystems; it represented 25% of the total biomass of 64 species
of fauna on a ranch in the Brazilian pantanal. It has been hunted for meat, hide, and sport.

Conservation

Status: endangered

The Brazilian tapir is listed as CITES Appendix II and as U.S. E.S.A.-Endangered. Hunting for meat and hide and habitat
destruction are the major threats to this animal.

Other Comments

Tapirus terrestris occurs sympatrically with T. bairdii in northwestern Colombia in the valley of the upper Rio Sinu and
east of the Gulf of Uruba.

There are Pleistocene fossil remains of the Brazilian tapir from the upper Jurua region in Acre, Brazil, from Jacu Pirango in
Sao Paulo, Brazil, and from Jaupaci, Brazil.

References

Emmons, Louise H. 1990. Neotropical Rainforest Mammals: A Field Guide. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago
and London, p156.

Padilla, Miguel and Dowler, Robert C. 1994. Mammalian Species, No. 481. The American Society of Mammalogists, pp1-8.

Wilson, Don E. and Reader, DeeAnn (ed.). 1993. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference,
2nd edition, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington and London, p370.

Disclaimer: The animal information pages on the Lion Country Safari website are intended as educational
resources. They may not contain all the latest scientific information about every species, nor can we
guarantee their accuracy.

For questions, comments or to report an error on this page contact: education@lioncountrysafari.com