Large, pig-shaped plant-eaters with a short, flexible trunk. Their closest living relatives are horses and rhinoceroses. They live in the forests of Central and South America and Southeast Asia.
Quick answers
What is it?Mammal
Carnivore?No, herbivore
Dangerous?No
Domesticated?No
Awake when?Night
Largely nocturnal and crepuscular, though the mountain tapir is more active by day.
Hibernates?No
Kept as a pet?No
Do people eat it?In places
Hunting for meat and hides has greatly reduced its numbers.
At a glance
Found inSouth America, Central America, Asia
HabitatRainforest, Forest, Wetland
ColoursBrown, Black, White
SizeLarge
Legs4
Covered inFur
Lives alone
Lives for25–30 years
Can swim
In the wild
- Where it lives
- Central and South America, and Southeast Asia.
- What it eats
- Soft vegetation.
Did you know
Its short trunk is a nose and an upper lip fused together, and it walks along riverbeds underwater.
Tapirs once lived across North America too, until about 12,000 years ago.
Often confused with
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