Tapirs Christian Musat/Shutterstock.Com Jess Kraft/Shutterstock.Com

www.ActiveWild.com Animal factsheet: Tapir Tapirs Christian Musat/Shutterstock.com Jess Kraft/Shutterstock.com

Brazilian Tapir Malayan Tapir KreativKolors/Shutterstock.com Ammit Jack/Shutterstock.com

Mountain Tapir Baird's Tapir Tapir Facts

• There are four kinds of tapir: Brazilian tapir, Malayan tapir, Baird's tapir, and mountain tapir. • The Malayan tapir, Baird's tapir, and mountain tapir are all classified as endangered. The Brazilian tapir is classified as vulnerable. The numbers of all tapirs are decreasing in the wild. • A fifth species of tapir, the kabomani tapir, was announced in 2013. However, there is some argument among scientists about whether or not it is actually a separate species.

• Tapirs are ‘odd-toed ungulates’. Odd-toed ungulates are animals that have odd numbers of toes on their rear feet. The scientific name for this kind of animal is Perissodactyla. • Tapirs are most closely related to horses and rhinoceros (these animals are also perissodactyls). • Tapirs have short, dense bodies and can be very heavy. Their weight ranges from 240 to 700 pounds (110 – 320kg). • Tapirs are herbivores (plant eaters). • A tapir’s snout is like a mini-trunk, and is actually a combination of its nose and upper lip. • The snout is highly flexible, and is used to rummage on the forest floor for food, and to grab food from trees and other plants. • Tapirs can stay under water for several minutes using their trunks as snorkels. • Tapirs do not have many natural predators but can be preyed on by caimans, crocodiles, green anacondas, jaguars and cougars. Tapirs also hunted by humans. • Tapirs help to disperse the seeds from the fruits and vegetables that they eat. This helps new plants and trees to grow. • A baby tapir is called a calf and can walk almost immediately after being born. • Mother tapirs are fiercely protective of their calves and will run at, and bite, predators. • Tapirs are endangered mainly due to habitat loss from deforestation.

All text copyright © 2015. All rights reserved. Please report unauthorised distribution to [email protected] 2 Available From Active Wild: Tales From The Brink is an exciting collection of short stories about the lives of endangered animals.

Budi, the Sumatran orangutan, has a series of terrifying dreams. Realising that something bad is coming, he leaves his home in search of a new place to live. Share in his adventures as he ventures deeper into the rainforest than he's ever been before. Carrie is a leatherback turtle. As a hatchling, she learns about life in the sea with her sister, Coria. As she grows up, the lure of the open sea gets ever stronger, until she and her sister set off on an epic migration. During their travels they are parted. Will Carrie ever see her sister again? Indian elephant Kabir lives in a lush valley surrounded by forest. Life in the valley seems perfect until, one day, a young elephant goes missing. Has she fallen into the river? Or perhaps she has wandered into the forest, where Kabir knows that something dangerous is lurking ... Darpan is a young Bengal tiger. Eager to prove himself to his fearsome mother, he is brave, but reckless. When the tigers' territory is invaded by strange, talking, apes, both mother and son face a challenge unlike anything they've faced before.

Share the lives and adventures of these incredible creatures. Learn more about the animals and the challenges that they face. Written for young nature lovers all over the world, these beautifully told stories will educate as well as entertain.

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