Baird's Tapir Fact Summary Malayan Tapir Fact Summary Taxonomy and Nomenclature Distribution and Habitat Physical Characteristics Behavior and Ecology Diet and Feeding Reproduction and Development Diseases and Pathology Managed Care Population and Conservation Status Web Resources Bibliography

Describer (Date): Family Describer: Gray (1821) London Med. Repos., 15:306
                                 Genus Describer: Brisson (1762) Regnum Animale, 2nd ed., pp 12, 81

Kingdom: Animalia
    Phylum: Chordata
        Class: Mammalia
             Order: Perissodactyla Odd-toed ungulates
                    Family: Equidae (horses, zebras & asses)
                    Family: Rhinocerotidae (rhinoceroses)
                    Family: Tapiridae (tapirs) Gray (1821)
                           Genus: Tapirus Brisson (1762)
                                  Species: Tapirus indicus (Malayan / Asian tapir) Desmarest (1819)
                                  Species: Tapirus bairdii (Baird’s tapir) Gill (1865)
                                  Species: Tapirus pinchaque (Mountain/Andean tapir) Roulin (1829)
                                  Species: Tapirus terrestris (Lowland / Brazilian taper) Linnaeus (1758)

• Name “tapir” is derived from the Tupi Indian word “tapyra” (language spoken until 17th century in Brazil).
• Linnaeus was only familiar with the Brazilian Tapir. He considered it a terrestrial hippo, naming it “Hippopotamus terrestris”.
• Brisson later proposed the genus name Tapirus.
• T. indicus: Malayan tapir, Asian Tapir, Indian Tapir,
  Spanish: Tapir À Dos Blanc Spanish – Tapir De La India
• T. bairdii: Baird’s tapir, Central American Tapir
  Spanish – Anteburro, Danta, Dante, Danto, Macho De Monte, Tapir Centroamericano
• T. pinchaque: Mountain Tapir, Andean Tapir, Woolly Tapir
  Spanish - Danta Cordillerana, Danta De Montaña, Danta De Páramo, Danta Lanuda, Danta Negra, Gran Bestia, Pinchaque, Tapir Andino
• T. terrestris: Lowland Tapir, Brazilian Tapir, South American Tapir
  Anta, Anta Brasileña, Danta, Danta Amazónica, Gran Bestia, Tapir Brasileño

• Ancient Group of animals – Known as “Living Fossils”.
• Related to the primitive horse and the rhinoceros.
• Prehistoric tapirs inhabited Europe, North America and Southeast Asia, including China
  • Oldest fossils (Protapirus) are from Eocene of North America – 50 million years ago
  • Migrated to Asia 45-50 million years ago (Eberle)
  • Genus Tapirus first appeared in the Miocene (25-5 million years ago)
    • Trunk/proboscis didn't grow to the present length until the last few million years.
  • Migrated to South America across Panamanian Land Bridge ~2-3 million years ago (Pliocene) Period is known as “Great American Interchange”
• Became extinct in North America in Pleistocene (lived in Florida until 11,000 years ago)
• DNA Analysis by Ashley et al:
  • 3 Neotropical species diverged from Asian species 20-30 million years ago
  • 2 South American species (T. pinchaque, T. terrestris) are more closely related to each other than to T. bairdii (Central American species)

• Distribution: Extremely wide distribution (Asia and South America) indicates they originated from an ancient lineage (Eocene)
• Malayan tapir: Malaya and Sumatra (extremely fragmented groups)
  Formerly: Burma and parts of Thailand
• Baird's tapir: Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, southern Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua, Republic of Panama, southern Mexico (Oaxaca)
  • Distribution is sparse and extremely fragmented
  • Formerly: El Salvador, and apparently Ecuador
  • Extremely rare in other places, such as Colombia
• Lowland tapir: Broadest range of the 4 species : Most South American rain forests
• Mountain tapir: High elevations in Andean regions of Columbia, Ecuador and Peru

Malayan Tapir Distribution	Baird's Tapir Distribution	Lowland/Mountain Tapir Distribution

• Prefer wet, tropical climate - marsh and swamp areas, tropical rainforests or tropical montane forests, mangroves
• Lowland (Brazilian) tapir may occupy savannah or tropical dry deciduous forests near permanent water source

• All 4 species have a similar physical structure.
  • Massive body – rounded in back, tapering in front – can crash through dense vegetation.
  • Short legs, neck and tail.
  • Distinctive, flexible proboscis-like snout.
    • Formed from tissues of upper lip and nose.
    • Muscle arrangement allows for a great deal of complex movement but only minimal elongation.
    • Transverse nostrils at tip of snout.
    • Tip also has tough tubercles and numerous long, coarse hairs.
    • Extremely large nasal cavity.
    • Highly developed vomeronasal organ in the nasal cavity is used to detect pheromones (chemical messages) from other tapirs.
    • Length varies among the 4 species - Longest in Malayan tapir. Shortest in Brazilian tapir.
  • Thick, leathery, yet supple skin with little hair (mountain tapir is the exception with thick hair and thinner skin).
  • Eyes small and myopic (more developed than rhinoceros).
  • Ears short and round.
  • Four toes on each front foot. (outer toe is vestigial) Three toes on each back foot. Each toe has a long hoof.
  • Simple stomach – short cecum and large lumen.
  • Lower canines well-developed. Upper canines small. Upper incisors similar to canines.
  • All baby tapirs are reddish-brown with white striped/spotted coats (good camouflage).
    

• Males slightly smaller than females

• Malayan Tapir: Largest species. Short coat : Black head and legs with large white saddle. No mane.
• Baird’s Tapir: Brown. Cream-colored markings on face and throat. Dark spot on each cheek, behind and below the eye. Brush-like mane. White ear tips.
• Lowland Tapir: Bristly brown or dark gray coat. Short narrow mane on head and anterior back. Unique sagittal neck crest.
• Mountain Tapir:: Dark reddish-brown. Thick wooly coat with under-fur. Lips outlined in white.

Malayan Tapir	Baird's Tapir	Lowland tapir	Mountain Tapir

• Rest / hide in forests during day
• Crepuscular feeders (just before daybreak and after dusk). Constantly foraging when awake.
• Sleep between midnight and dawn – may sleep in several inches of water.
• Good hill climbers and runners.
• Love water and wallowing in mud.
  • Create paths to rivers & lakes.
  • Water is a cooling mechanism.
  • Rids of skin parasites.
  • Instinctively head for water to avoid predators.
    • Can completely submerge 60-90 seconds (Barongi).
• Urinate frequently in evening (backward spray several meters long).

• Generally solitary except during reproductive season.
• Congregate around salt licks at mating time.
• Mothers stay with young 1-2 years.
• Family of Baird’s tapirs observed sleeping and moving together.

• Densities range from high of 1/sq km to less than .3/sq km (Eisenberg, 1997).
• Home ranges can overlap

• Extremely shy - Rely on camouflage for protection.
• Protective response varies with level of fear – Usually in response to auditory threat.
  • Stop feeding and freeze.
  • If necessary, bolt – rarely confront a threat.
  • Enter water if chased by dogs or predator.

• If 2 individuals meet they may bare teeth and move ears forward. If one doesn’t retreat, each tries to bite the other’s hind legs (circling and chasing).
• Well-developed incisors and canines can inflict serious wounds.
• Mother may chase away weaned offspring when caring for a newborn.

• Shrill whistling sound – often followed by answering whistle from another tapir.
• Bird-like chirping sounds or hiccup (may indicate anxiety – separation from young).

• Keen sense of smell / Scent mark with urine. Well-developed vomeronasal organ for detecting pheromones (scent marks).

• Keen sense of hearing.

• Walk with snout close to ground (detection of food, predators, other tapirs).
• Move in zig-zag constantly foraging.
• Good swimmers and divers. (Observed walking on bottom of pools in zoos).

• Hunted by native people for meat, hides, trophies, folk medicine.
• Important role as tropical seed dispersers (Olmos).
  • Ruminant herbivores usually kill most of the seeds they eat but not tapirs.
  • Lowland tapirs are effective dispersers of palm.
  • Live seeds found in almost all Malayan tapir dung piles.
  • 22 of 33 species eaten by Baird’s tapir are dispersed.
  • Mountain tapirs disperse 86 of 264 plants long distances.

• Use muscular proboscis when foraging - grasp vegetation, and move items into their mouths.
• Opportunistic feeders
  • Browsers (herbs, shrubs, twigs).
  • Grazers (use incisors like horses to bite off grass).
  • Frugivores (actively search for fruit and berries)
• All parts of ferns, horsetails, palm fruits and hearts, aquatic plants.
• Leaves of tropical trees.
• Bromeliads and their berries.
• Act as major seed dispersers.
• Known to consume 75 lbs (34 kg) of forage in one night.
• Plants are consumed regardless of thorns or insects.
• Will eat almost anything, but a favorite food is bananas.
• Crave salt.
• Hindgut fermenters with an enlarged cecum (like all Perissodactyls).
  • Suited to high-fiber, low-quality diet.
  • Long digestive period (4-23 days).
• Defecate in water.

• Male produces wheezing/huffing sounds or shrill whistling. May spray urine.
• Male and female stand nose to tail, sniffing genitals and begin circling movement.

• Non-seasonal.
• Sexual maturity for M & F = ~2 years.
• Estrus cycle: ~30 days. Varies with species in the wild.
• Copulating tapirs bite one another on flanks / ears (also common in horses and zebras).
• Often mate in water.
• After mating female may become aggressive – chasing male.

• 13 months (390-400 days).
• Female becomes restless, selects safe birthing area.
• Stands up during birth – single infant is born head first (twins are extremely rare).
• Birth interval – 18 months in zoos (may be significantly shorter in wild.
• 14 months in wild with good food availability (Eisenberg).

• Eyes open at birth.
• Stands one or two hours after birth.
• 14-25 lbs at birth (6-11 kgs) (Todd & Matola).
• Mother licks clean and encourages newborn to stand.

• Shelters by itself while mother forages.
• Begins to follow mother ~one week.
• Striped coat begins to fade at 5 months.
• Remains with mother for 10-11 months.

• Has adult coat at 10-11 months.

• 2-3 years.

• 25-30 years.

• In the Wild:
  • May contract Infectious diseases from cattle and horses.
  • May become infested with lice and ticks.
  • Wild Baird’s tapir parasites: 2 nematodes and a prozoan.
• In Zoos:
  • Non-infectious gastrointestinal disease.
    • Limited gastric capacity – over-feeding – can lead to colic or stomach rupture.
  • Infectious respiratory disease.
    • Upper airway – bacterial rhinitis or guttural pouch infection.
    • Lower airway – bacterial pneumonia, pulmonary tuberculosis, coccidioidomycosis, laryngeal abcesses – can be life-threatening.
  • Skin and hoof disease.
    • Apparently unique vesicular skin disease – lesions over dorsal thoracic and lumbosacral regions.
    • Acute lameness due to over-wearing of foot pads.

• All species exhibited in Zoos.
  • Population figures at: http://www.isis.org/CMSHOME
  • Lowland tapir most common.
  • Mountain tapir is extremely rare – only 4 zoos exhibit this species:
    • L.A. = 5
    • S.F. = 2
    • Cheyenne Mountain Zoo 2
    • Mountain View Conservation and Breeding, Fort Langley BC, Canada = 2
• First record in captivity – T. terrestris at the London Zoo 1828.
• Successful in multi-species exhibits : can co-exist with capybaras, agoutis rheas, storks egrets, geese, maned wolves and small primates.
• Breed well into their 20’s. A female T. indicus at the San Diego Zoo gave birth to 15th offspring at age 30 (Barongi).
• Record lifespan = 35 years T. terrestris at miejski Ogrod Zoologiczny (Wroclaw, Poland).

• ISIS captive population
• Populations of all species are decreasing.

• IUCN Status:
  • T. indicus - Malayan Tapir: Endangered since 2008
    • 1,500-2,000 in Malaysia
    • 50-100 in Thailand
  • T. bairdii - Baird’s Tapir: Endangered since 2002
    • 2006 population estimates by Naranjo, Cruz-Aldán and Lira-Torres for the IUCN
    • <5,500 individual Baird’s tapir remaining in the wild
    • >1,500 in Mexico
    • >1,000 in Guatemala
    • >500 in Honduras
    • >500 in Nicaragua
    • >1,000 in Republic of Panama
    • >1,000 in Costa Rica
    • ~250 in Colombia
  • T. pinchaque - Mountain Tapir: Endangered since 1994
    • < 2,500 mature individuals remaining
  • T. terrestris Lowland Tapir: Vulnerable
    • Population estimates unavailable
• CITES Status: All 4 species – Appendix I

• Humans are chief predators (hunt with dogs)
• Land clearing for agriculture.
• Giant anacondas and crocodiles attack and swallow whole.
• Low reproductive rate (13 month gestation with single offspring which spends 2 years with mother).
• High infant mortality due to tigers in Asia, jaguars and pumas in Mesoamerica and South America.

• Tapir Gallery: The tapir preservation fund
• Tapirus bairdii / Digimorph
• Ultimate ungulate – Tapirus bairdii

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