Tapir Facts!

Facts that we- do not know about Mr Tapir

                Tapirs are endangered species. There are four types of tapir. Baird’s tapir, lowland tapir, mountain tapir and Malayan tapir. “Candle” stands out for a small group of tapirs. Tapirs are endangered species and are hunted down and die due to environmental changes and also ecological changes. However, in Malaysia, we have the Malayan tapir. As a kid, I used to pick up pictures of it in my Britannica. I also have animal pictures of the tapir with some other tropical animals, such as the hornbill etc. Anyway, I also mistook it to be an anteater until I grew up and learned that it was called ‘Tapir’. Not ANTEATER.

                The tapir family are actually cousins of the rhinoceros. Lowland tapirs live near water and are swimmers. They have spread out toes that let them operate their way through wet land. They have four toes on the front and three tops at the back foot. They wander around with their padded feet built for balance. They are also related to horses.

                Baby topics are born with flecked skin. Baby tapir is probably the cutest little baby animal you will find in the animal kingdom! They actually resemble doe- a baby deer. They have stripes and spots and looks like a furry brown doe with a watermelon striped face. When they are young they have patches on their skin, when they are six months they look more and more like their parent. The female Brazilian topic is pregnant for more than one year before she gives birth. Baby tapir will stay with the mother for one and a half years, adult tapir are more deceptive to the predators but baby or young tapirs are easily attached or preyed on. One does not know how long the young remains under protection and gets food by its mother, but data states it could be more than a year.

                Tapirs look like pigs, but actually they are related to rhinos and horses. It looks like a bulky animal, but it can actually run really fast when it is in danger.  It can also swim and pop into the water if necessary and endangered by predators. Generally one did not hear of tapir eaten by water snakes or any of the sort. Reports states that they are only attacked by land animals, but none such in the water. However, they still have their extrasensory sense that detects other animals around them. They also have a big bulk, so generally something smaller in size cant attack someone like them.

                Tapirs have not evolved since tens of millions of years. They eat leafy greens and fruits twice a day. These animals are important to nature because they dissipate seeds through their dung.

                Moreover, tapirs communicate through making high-pitched sounds. They also leave communication signs via urine and faeces. Tapirs also know if there are other tapirs in the area. They spend few minutes under water. They also use their snouts to hide under water, using it as a snorkel longer in case of danger. They spend some time in the forest, and some spend their whole life in captivity.

                Tapir tend to have mating season in April and May. The pregnancy period of about more than twelve months, the tapir baby is born. The baby tapir leaves the mother when they are between two to three old. The mother breast feeds the tapir.

                Besides, tapirs are solitary animals with the exception of their mating period and the mother’s nursing period. Tapirs are known to be shy animals, and rarely assault humans. They may bite you though.

                Further, tapirs live in dry land forests, feeding on soft vegetation and cool off during hot periods. Tapirs that live in water will swim into the riverbed to allow small fishes to bit off the parasites from their body. Tapirs also stick their whole body into the mud pit.

                Adult tapirs are not easy prey because they are large in size and also have thick skin on their back. They are able to escape as well when in need. Tapirs’ upper lips have long nozzles that it uses to reach out to grab food. It grabs fruits on the way. It also pokes its nozzle out of the water – Snorkelling Time!

                Moreover, tapirs can have sex in the water! They literally do it in the aqua world! I can’t imagine if I had sex in the water though. It sounds like having sex in the private swimming pool. Anyway, tapirs can also walk really quickly at the bottom of the water. Talk about gliding through the water like a there was zero friction. Tapir paddle in the water like a dog paddling. It also has a cute footage that you can find on YouTube. They paddle and paddle to cool down, or to escape predators and also some people trying to disturb them with a camera – joking. However, there was a footage of a tapir paddling away like mad while the camera followed them like mad. No kidding.

                Tapirs are labelled as endangered. They are endangered because their numbers have declined more than fifty percent in the past three years. The Asian tapir is endangered due to habitat loss. The Brazilian tapir is endangered due to illegal hunting and livestock competition.

Tapir are hunted for their skin and meat. There are places that do not have any signs of tapir at all when they should have tapir.

                Next, how do you pronounce tapir? Ta-peer, TAY-per, etc. The debate goes on. In Malaysia, we pronounce it as ‘Ta-peer’. Tapirs are also really heavy animals. They reach 4ft in height and are round. The Malayan topic reach seven hundred pounds or more about half the size the horse. The kobomani tapir, the smallest one, weighs two hundred pounds or so. This makes them possible to push the trees over for fruit gathering. While they’re generally gentle, they can attack when they feel threatened. They sleep during the day on green patches of leaves and then suddenly become superman at twilight.  This combination of this two things- the tapir’s weight and also its night shift make researchers tough to analyse and study. Apparently it seems tough to follow a tapir and collect data. One has to set a lot of camera traps when they are active – twilight. Imagine tracking a wild animal at 300 am in the morning! It sounds mad but there are people willing to do so – namely National Geographic photographers.

Further, tapirs are wide-ranging animals. They travel, from forest to forest, changing habitat, and also eat fruit from one place to another, eating and defecating at the same time. In other words, they eat, poop and then spread and disperse their seeds. Many other animals play this role, but because tapirs eat a lot of fruit, they distribute a lot – large amount of seeds. Everywhere they move they defecate and pass on the next fruit generation. It’s like a massive fruit transporter. Their defecation also have lots of fertilizer to aid plant growth. Tapirs literally change the forest structure and diversity.

Tapirs also raise its lips and snouts, using a powerful sense. Humans have lost these ability, but cats, tapirs still have this ability!

                Don’t anger a tapir! Tapirs stamp and snort, but they make screeching noises when they are annoyed. I hope that people do not go near one and try to provoke it or even try to put their hand near the mouth. You could lose a finger. Photographers and environmentalists that hurry around the place to gather photos and info about this tapir would be smarter to go near one, but tourists are definitely needed to be told by the tourist guide, so that at least they won’t get hurt in the safari zone.

Tapirs are active during dawn to dusk. It will roam the forest during twilight. Tapirs will rummage the forest at 3.00 am in the morning. They also roam the forest eating fruits and vegetables. If only people were able to capture those footages easily at that time! Nope! Sorry photorgraphers! Tough job on this one! Tapirs are part of an ancient lineage about fifty million years old. Tapirs stay in forests and are survivors of the once dominant group many million years ago.

Tapirs are hunted for their meat, which has a decreasing population in Amazon. Recent studies of illegal hunting have shown that there are areas with no tapirs at all. It was a place where there was no deforestation. Tapirs are also misjudged and people think that they are useless. Some people also think that they are anteaters. They look like one, but they are NOT. They have snouts, but anteaters have longer snouts.

Lastly, tapirs are endangered species. The conservation groups world-wide are known to promote tapir visiting tours and ban illegal tropic hunting. Please don’t kill tapir for meat. We already have lots of meat to eat from, like lifestock, chicken, ducks etc. We also have plenty of other resources! Don’t kill tapir! Spare them!