Most people say this animal looks like a creature from Ice Age. This animal is the tapir. The tapir is a large mammal and often mistaken for anteaters. Their closest relatives are horses and rhinos. The tapir came be found in lowlands that are moist damp forest regions and are generally found in the southern hemisphere. Special features of this animal are they have long, flexible snouts and a hump on their shoulders. Their main food source are leaves, grass, flower buds, twigs, and fruits. They use their prehensile snouts to grab leaves, branches, and other foods. Although the tapir has a stocky build, they are fantastic swimmers and spend most of their time by water to cool down. The tapir is anywhere from 100-150 cm or 39-59in in size and weighs anywhere from 150-300 kg or 330-700 pounds. Tapir’s have hair and can be white, black, brown or grey in color. There are four known species of tapir. The Baird’s Tapir are native to Central America and northern parts of South America. The Malayan Tapir, also known as the Asian Tapir, is the largest and is found in South Asia and today is much smaller and lost most of its habitat. The Mountain Tapir is the smallest of the four and inhabits mountainous regions. It can mainly be found in the high forests of the Andes Mountains across Colombia, Ecuador, northern parts of Peru. The Brazilian Tapir, also known as the South American Tapir, is an excellent swimmer and is found near water in the Amazon Rainforest. A tapir can live anywhere from 20-25 years. The tapir is an endangered species. Their main predators are humans, wild cats, and crocodiles. This is a very cool species that I hope one day I get to see in real life.
No comments:
Post a Comment