Overview
The Brazilian Tapir, also known as the Lowland Tapir, (Tapirus terrestris) is one of four species in the tapir family, along with the Mountain Tapir, the Malayan Tapir, and the Baird's Tapir.
Appearance
It is dark brown in color and has a low, erect mane running from the crown down the back of the neck. Brazilian Tapir can attain body lengths of 1.80 - 2.50 m with a 5-10 cm long tail and can reach 77 to 108cm 270 kg in weight. It stands somewhere between 77 to 108 cm at the shoulder.
Range.
The Brazilian Tapir can be found near water in the
Amazon Rainforest and
River Basin in South America, west of the
Andes. Its range streches from
Venezuela,
Colombia, and the Guianas in the north to
Brazil,
Argentina, and
Paraguay, in the south, to
Bolivia,
Peru, and
Ecuador in the east.
Behavior.
The species is an excellent swimmer and diver but also moves fast on land, even over rugged, mountainous terrain. The species has a life span of approximately 25 to 30 years. In the wild, the main predators of the Brazilian tapir are the
jaguar and
puma which often attacks the tapir at night, when they leave the water and sleep on the riverbank.
Diet.
It is a
herbivore. Using its mobile snout, this tapir feeds on leaves, buds, shoots, and small branches that it tears from trees, fruit, grasses and aquatic plants.
Endangered Status.
Because of dwindling numbers due to
poaching for meat and hide, as well as habitat destruction.
The Brazilian tapir is generally recognized as a endangered animal species, with the species being designated as endangered by the U.S. United States Fish and Wildlife Service on June 2, 1970. The Brazilian tapir, however, had a significantly lower risk of extinction than the other three tapir species.
Reproduction.
Every two to three months tapirs come into
heat, which lasts two days. Mating occurs in water. Females have a
gestation period that ranges from 335 to 439 days, but usually occurs between 390 and 400 days. Normally, a single young is born, but twin births have occurred. A birth, an infant with pale spots and stripes on a red-brown coat, which
camouflages the young on the forest floor. After a year, this goes away, but the tapir may stay with the mother for up to two years.
