South American Tapir
Poor vision, well-developed hearing
Close to the horse and the rhinoceros families, this large herbivore (more than 250 kg) lives in forests and marshy areas because it particularly likes water : it is therefore an excellent swimmer. It has a kind of small trunk which it uses to catch the vegetation on which it feeds in great quantities.
Especially at night, because it prefers to rest when it’s hot.
Its eyesight is poor but it has, on the other hand, very developed senses of hearing and smell. Its predators are the big cats, particularly the jaguar… but also man, who hunts it for its thick leather from which one can make strong straps and whips, for example. The female, larger, gives birth to only one seldom two offspring, which she suckles for a whole year. There is also an Asian species of tapir : the Malayan Tapir.
One tapir in Pairi Daiza
One South American tapir live in the Jardin des Mondes : the female Dolores.
A “vulnerable” species
- Name: South American tapir
- Latin name: Tapirus terrestris
- Origin: South America
- IUCN status: Vulnerable
- Cites: Appendix II