South American tapir

By Marla Lise

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Tapir in Brazil's Pantanal. Photo by Rhett A. Butler.

South American Tapir

Scientific Name: Tapirus terrestris

The South American tapir or the Brazilian tapir is the second largest mammal in South America, second to its cousin, the Baird’s Tapir. There are four species of tapir in the world and three of them reside in South and Central America.

Tapirs are related to horses and rhinoceroses, not pigs or anteaters, as people commonly think. They share the same type of feet – having hooves on the ends of their legs – and animals like these are known as ungulates.

The South American tapir is found in lowland regions around Northern and Central South America. They are usually found near places that have salt and water. Very little is known about these quiet creatures and researchers are using methods such as camera and footprint traps to track and monitor populations in the area.

Tapirs have few babies throughout their lifetime and they take a long time before giving birth the first time, which results in their recovery being very slow if the population is disturbed.

All four species of tapir are considered endangered or vulnerable and the population numbers of the South American tapir have been decreasing over the past few years. Scientists believe that five of the nine known species of tapirs have already become extinct. Their habitats are slowly being destroyed due to deforestation and they are being hunted for meat.

Baird's Tapir (Tapirus bairdii) (Belize)		Baird's Tapir (Tapirus bairdii) (Belize)		Baird's Tapir (Tapirus bairdii)
Baird's Tapir (Tapirus bairdii) (Belize)		South American Tapir (Tapirus terrestris) crossing a road in the Pantanal (Brazil)		Baird's Tapir (Tapirus bairdii)
South American Tapir (Tapirus terrestris) [juvenile] (Brazil)		Lowland Tapir (Tapirus terrestris) crossing a road in the Pantanal (Brazil)		Baird's Tapir (Tapirus bairdii)

Animal profiles

Birds
Bare-Faced Ibis
Blue and Gold Macaw
Common Potoo
Green Honeycreeper
Grey Winged Trumpeter
Harpy Eagle
Hoatzin
Horned Screamer
Jabiru Stork
Malachite Kingfisher
Mealy Parrot
Northern Cassowary
Savanna hawk
Scale-crested pygmy-tyrant
Rhinoceros Hornbill
Scarlet Ibis
Wattled Jacana

Mammals
Asian black bear
Black-and-white ruffed lemur
Black-faced spider monkey
Bornean Rhino
Brown capuchin monkey
Capybara [2nd profile]
Coquerel's Sifaka
Crowned Lemur
Eastern Long Beaked Echidna
Howler Monkey
Kinkajou
Malagasy Giant Jumping Rat
Malayan Tapir
Margay
Mountain Gorilla
Plains Zebra not a rainforest species
Puma
South American tapir
South American coatimundi
Spectral Tarsier
Spider Monkey
Squirrel Monkeys
White-lipped peccary
Woolly Monkey


Reptiles
Green Basilisk
Leatherback Sea Turtle not a rainforest species
Pygmy stump-tailed chameleon
Spectacled Caiman


Amphibians
Giant Chinese Salamander
Gladiator Tree Frog
Green Poison Arrow Frog
Indian Purple Frog
Monkey Frog