Brazilian Tapir

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Brazilian Tapir
Conservation status
Vulnerable (VU)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Perissodactyla Family: Tapiridae Genus: Tapirus Species: T. terrestris
Binomial name
Tapirus terrestris (Linnaeus, 1758)

The Brazilian Tapir (anta in Portuguese), also known as the Lowland Tapir (Tapirus terrestris) is one of four species in the tapir family, along with the Mountain Tapir, the Malayan Tapir, and the Baird's Tapir.

[edit] Appearance

It is dark brown in color and has a low, erect mane running from the crown down the back of the neck. The Brazilian Tapir can attain body lengths of 1.80 to 2.50 m with a 5 to 10 cm long tail and 270 kg in weight. It stands somewhere between 77 to 108 cm at the shoulder.

[edit] Range

The Brazilian Tapir can be found near water in the Amazon Rainforest and River Basin in South America, west of the Andes. Its range stretches from Venezuela, Colombia, and Guianas in the north to Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay, in the south, to Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador in the West.

[edit] Behavior

The species is an excellent swimmer and diver but also moves fast on land, even over rugged, mountainous terrain. The species has a life span of approximately 25 to 30 years. In the wild, the main predators of the Brazilian tapir are crocodilians and large cats such as, the jaguar and puma which often attacks the tapir at night, when they leave the water and sleep on the riverband.

[edit] Diet

It is a herbivore. Using its mobile snout, this tapir feeds on leaves, buds, shoots, and small branches that it tears from trees, fruit,

[edit] Endangered status

Dwindling numbers are due to poaching for meat and hide, as well as habitat destruction. The Brazilian tapir is generally recognized as an endangered animal species, with the species being designated as endangered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service on June 2, 1970. The Brazilian tapir, however, had a significantly lower risk of extinction than the other three tapir species.

[edit] References

• Downer & Castellanos (2002). Tapirus terrestris. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is vulnerable

[edit] External link

• ARKive - images and movies of the lowland tapir (Tapirus terrestris)