Tapirs, with their unique pig-like appearance and short, trunk-like snouts, are ancient herbivorous mammals that have roamed the Earth for millions of years. Despite their resemblance to pigs, they are close relatives of horses, asses, zebras, and rhinoceroses. They belong to Tapiridae, one of the three surviving families of Perissodactyla, or odd-toed ungulates.
They are adaptable creatures, inhabiting a variety of ecosystems, including jungles, rainforests, savannas, and wetlands of South and Central America, as well as Southeast Asia. Today, there is only a single extant genus, Tapirus, comprising four living species: Baird’s tapir, South American tapir, Mountain tapir, and Malayan tapir. These animals were once widespread across North America, but their range has significantly shrunk since the Late Pleistocene Epoch.
Most tapirs measure about 6.5 ft (2 m) in length and are almost 3 ft (1 m) tall. The largest species, the Malayan tapir, can grow up to 8 ft 2 in long, while the smallest, the mountain tapir, typically reaches about 5 ft 11 in (1.7 m).
Tapirs typically weigh between 330 and 660 lb, though it varies from species to species. For example, the Malayan tapir usually falls within the 550 to 710-lb range, while the smaller Mountain tapir weighs between 300 and 551 lb.
Tapirs are short and stocky, covered in a coat that ranges from reddish-brown to gray or nearly black, with short, bristly hair. The mountain tapir, also known as the woolly tapir, has a distinctive woolly coat, while the Malayan tapir stands out with its unique white, saddle-shaped marking on its back. They possess a highly flexible, prehensile snout that can extend and move in all directions, with the Malayan tapir having the longest snout and the South American tapir the smallest. Their oval, white-tipped ears, protruding rump, and stumpy tail are also characteristic features. They are identified by their oval, white-tipped ears, protruding rump, and a stumpy tail.
Skeleton
They have slender legs with hooved toes and well-developed radius and ulna bones. Being odd-toed ungulates, they have three main digits on the forefoot and three on the hindfoot. A smaller fifth digit on the forefoot is used while walking on soft ground.
They have relatively long and laterally compressed skulls with a high braincase and arched nasal bones.
They have 42 to 44 teeth in total, characterized by chisel-shaped incisors. The third, conical upper incisor, is separated from the considerably smaller canine by a small gap. Even larger gaps set apart the canines and premolars.
Their molars have hard and elongated enamel ridges for grinding food. Thus, all tapirs are lophodonts.
Tapirs have brown eyes with corneal cloudiness, lacking precise vision. However, their sensitive ears and olfactory accuracy compensate for this limitation.
All species of tapirs are currently classified under eight genera, of which only one genus, the Tapirus, is extant and contains four species.
A group of researchers identified a fifth species, Tapirus kabomani, in 2013, but its inclusion in the current taxonomy is still under debate.
Despite their existence for years, tapirs have barely altered their body forms in at least the past 35 million years.
Tapirs are native to regions in Mexico, Central and South America, as well as Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand. They thrive in a variety of habitats, including dryland forests, rainforests, wetlands, and savannas.
They are herbivorous, typically feeding on young and tender aquatic plants, fruits, and berries in the wild. In captive environments, like zoos, they also feed on a variety of vegetables. Baird’s tapirs, for example, can consume as much as 85 lb (40 kg) of vegetation per day.
Tapirs typically reach sexual maturity between three and five years of age, with females maturing slightly earlier than males. While males possess relatively long penises, females have a single pair of mammary glands.
Males produce a variety of sounds, including shrill whistles, wheezes, and huffs, to court females. They may also spray urine, releasing pheromones that attract potential mates. Once a mate is chosen, the pair stands nose to tail, sniffing each other’s genitals while moving in circles.
Tapirs often copulate in water, engaging in behaviors similar to horses and zebras, such as biting each other’s ears. The male uses his intromittent organ, or penis, to release sperm inside the female’s body, a process that lasts about 10 to 20 minutes. In captivity, mating pairs may copulate multiple times during the female’s estrus cycle.
A healthy female tapir gives birth every two years, with a single calf born after a long gestation period of about thirteen months (390-400 days). During birth, the mother stands up, and the infant is born head first. The newborn weighs around 14 to 25 lbs (6 to 11 kg) with striped-and-spotted coats to ensure perfect camouflaging.
The coat begins to fade at around five months, and the newborn is weaned when it is almost a year old.
These mammals survive for around 25 to 30 years both in the wild and in captivity.
Although their natural predators are few, tapirs are usually preyed upon by jaguars, crocodiles, anacondas, and tigers.
Tapirs are considered an ‘umbrella species,’ meaning their wide-ranging habitat encompasses the habitats of many other animals. As a result, the population size of these cohabiting species is directly influenced by the presence of tapirs. As frugivores, tapirs are excellent seed dispersers; they consume fruits and transport the seeds across various locations, depositing them through their droppings. This behavior not only aids in the expansion of plant species but also plays a crucial role in recycling soil nutrients, contributing to the overall health of their ecosystems.
According to the IUCN Red List, the Mountain, Malayan, and Baird’s tapirs are all currently Endangered (EN), whereas South American tapirs are Vulnerable (VU).
These mammals are vulnerable because of hunting for meat and hide, habitat loss due to deforestation, and population isolation, which causes inbreeding depression and genetic homozygosity.
However, conservation efforts are constantly undertaken to increase their population and raise public awareness. The Tapir Specialist Group, a unit of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, focuses on the restoration and conservation of the tapirs remaining in Central and South America and Southeast Asia. Similarly, Baird’s Tapir Project, the longest ongoing tapir project in the world, analyzes the social systems and habitat preferences of tapirs by monitoring them using radio collars.
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