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Tapirs are closely related to horses and rhinos,
though most people feel it more closely resembles
a pig.
Tapir Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Perissodactyla
Superfamily: Tapiroidea
Family: Tapiridae
Genus: Tapirus
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Other Names: Mountain Cow, Macho del Monte
Tapir in Foreign Languages:
Arabic: tabiir
Basque: tapir
Bulgarian: tapir
Chinese: Mandarin: mò
Czech: tapírovití
Danish: tapir
Dutch: tapir
Esperanto: tapiro / virtapiro /
tapirico / tapirino / tapirido / virtapirido
/ tapiridico / tapiridino
Finnish: tapiiri
French: tapir
German: Tapir
Greek: tápiros
Hebrew: tapír
Italian: tapiro
Japanese: baku
Lithuanian: tapyras
Malay: tenuk
Navajo: bichi´i´h naats'oodí
Norwegian: tapir
Polish: tapir
Portuguese: anta
Russian: tapír
Roman: tapiri
Slovene: tapir
Spanish: tapir / anta / anteburro
/ danta / danto / sachavaca
Swedish: tapir
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Species: There are currently four recognized
species of tapir.
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Tapir Species
Baird’s tapir - Tapirus bairdii
Lowland tapir - Tapirus terrestris
Mountain tapir - Tapirus pinchaque
Malayan tapir - Tapirus indicus
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Size: Tapirs stand 29 to 42 inches at their
shoulder and they weigh between 500 to 800 lbs. The
largest tapir is the Malayan tapir, which measures up
to 8 feet long. The smallest tapir is the mountain tapir
which is up to 6 feet long.
Habitat: Tapirs are found in Mexico, Central
America, South America, and Asia. Tapirs inhabit swamps,
forests, and rain forests.
Description: Tapirs have stocky bodies and a
distinctive short prehensile trunk.
Diet: Tapirs eat leaves, twigs, branches, buds,
shoots, berries, fruits and aquatic plants.
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Communication: Tapirs communicate through
vocalizations, snorting and foot stomping.
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Did You Know?
Tapirs are excellent swimmers and can
even dive to feed on aquatic plants.
Like pigs they will often wallow in
mud to cool off.
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Gestation: Tapirs carry their young for 13 to
14 months
Birth: Tapirs give birth to a single baby at
a time. A newborn tapir weighs 15 to 22 lbs at birth.
Sexually Mature: Tapirs reach sexual maturity
between three and five years of age. Females will mature
earlier than their male counterparts.
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Life Span: Tapirs live approximately
25 to 30 years. Tigers, jaguars, cougars along
with large reptiles like crocodiles all prey on
tapir.
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Did You Know?
Tapirs are generally shy but will defend
themselves when threatened.
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Social Structure: Tapirs are solitary and protective
of their environments.
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