The most significant predator of Tapirus bairdii is humans, but pumas (Puma concolor) are potential predators of young tapirs. Baird’s tapirs rely largely on camouflage and their large size for protection against predators: at night they blend in extremely well with leafy shrubs, during the day they resemble stationary objects, such as large rocks.
Known Predators:
Anti-predator Adaptations: cryptic
Baird’s tapirs are the largest native terrestrial mammals in the Neotropics and the largest of the four living tapir species. About the size of small donkeys, Baird’s tapirs typically weigh between 150 to 300 kilograms. They are dark brown to reddish brown above and paler below with white fringes around their large ears, white lips, and sometimes a white patch on the throat and chest. Their fur is bristly and “piglike.” Baird’s tapirs are well muscled. A long, narrow mane is present but is not always conspicuous. Tapirs have short, slender legs, making them well adapted to rapid movement through underbrush. The snout and upper lips are projected forwards to form a short, fleshy proboscis, which is used for finding food and for detecting tactile stimuli. Their eyes are small and flush with the side of their head while their ears are large, erect, oval, and not very mobile. The forefoot has three main digits and one smaller one while the hind foot has only three digits. Females have a single pair of mammae located in the groin region. Body measurements are as follows: head and body length - 180 to 250 cm, tail length - 5 to 13 cm, shoulder height - 73 to 120 cm.
Range mass: 150 to 300 kg.
Range length: 180 to 250 cm.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; homoiothermic; bilateral symmetry
Sexual Dimorphism: sexes alike
Little is known about the longevity of Tapirus bairdii in the wild, but a wild-born animal lived to be 29.6 years in captivity. Furthermore, a captive T. terrestris lived to be 35 years old.
Range lifespan
Status: captivity: 29.6 (high) years.
Baird’s tapirs are found in most vegetation types at elevations ranging from sea level to 3,600 meters. They are found in marsh and swamp areas, mangroves, wet tropical rainforests, riparian woodlands, monsoon deciduous forests, montane cloud forests, and paramo (treeless alpine plateau). Food and water availability are important factors in habitat selection. When both primary and secondary forest habitat is available, Baird’s tapirs prefer secondary forest due to the increase in understory plants for foraging and protection.
Range elevation: 0 to 3,600 m.
Habitat Regions: tropical ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: savanna or grassland ; forest ; rainforest ; mountains
Wetlands: marsh ; swamp
Other Habitat Features: riparian
Baird’s tapirs are largely solitary animals and few vocal communications are known. All of observations detailed in this section were recorded at Barro Colorado Island in Panama. The most well-know noise is a continuous whistling sound, typically followed by a similar sound from a nearby tapir. They also make a sound similar to a repeated hiccup, which is though to be related to agitation. Immature tapirs will often emit high-pitched squeaks when frightened or ready to bolt. Mothers that have been separated from their young have been observed emitting loud snore-like breaths until they were reunited with their young. The most important senses to Baird’s tapirs are smell and hearing, both of which are used in finding food and detecting threats. They also locate nearby tapirs by smell. The eyes are small and sight does not seem to be an important mode of perception.
Communication Channels: acoustic ; chemical
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Tapirus bairdii is listed as an endangered species with a decreasing population trend on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The endangered status is based on ongoing and future population declines due to loss of habitat, fragmentation, and hunting pressure. It is estimated that approximately 70% of Central American forests have been destroyed in the past 40 years. In addition, T. bairdii is especially at risk of population fragmentation because they exist solely within the narrow Central American isthmus. Hunting pressure is especially harmful to T. bairdii populations due to their low reproductive rates. Infectious disease may also contribute to future declines, especially in areas where tapirs are found near domestic cattle. Based on population density and distribution, T. bairdii is listed as the tenth rarest Neotropical forest mammal. The current overall population estimate is less than 5,000 mature individuals. Along with protecting habitat and reducing hunting pressure, management strategies include protecting the quality of freshwater sources and providing a mix of primary and secondary forest habitats.
US Federal List: endangered
CITES: appendix i
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: endangered
Infectious diseases and parasites that originated in domestic cattle and horses have been found in Tapirus bairdii in southern Mexico and T. bairdii could serve as a carrier of these diseases to new areas. Tapirs also sometimes forage in agricultural areas and have been known to damage corn and other grains. However, this is rare because tapirs generally avoid human-disturbed areas and are few in number. Baird’s tapirs often defecate in water and have the potential to affect human water sources downstream, although their rarity makes this a small problem.
Negative Impacts: crop pest; causes or carries domestic animal disease
Historically, Baird’s tapirs were an important food source for rural and indigenous people across Central America. Their rarity makes them no longer a significant game animal. They are large, charismatic animals that can attract ecotourism interest because of their association with pristine tropical forest habitats.
Positive Impacts: food
In some habitats, Baird’s tapirs are important seed dispersers. However, because the amount of fruit consumed varies by habitat and region, this role varies as well. It has also been suggested that T. bairdii is an important species for indicating the overall health of Neotropical rain forests because of their rarity and sensitivity to disturbance.
Ecosystem Impact: disperses seeds
Baird’s tapirs are strict herbivores, foraging from the forest floor to 1.5 meters above ground. Leaves from a variety of plant species provide the bulk of their diet, but they also eat fruits, twigs, flowers, sedges, and grasses. Fruits from several plant species seem to be preferred when they are in season, but the total amount of fruit eaten varies by habitat. Dietary composition of plant species also varies by season, with some species eaten during certain times of the year but avoided at others. The presence of armor or biting ants on a plant does not deter them from consuming that plant. Baird’s tapirs spend most of their waking hours foraging in a zig-zag pattern. They forage in one of three patterns: 1) feed on several species in a small area, 2) feed only on a single species within a small area, or 3) grab and eat various plants while moving to another area. Tapirs prefer plant species of medium to tall height, but the only plants that are completely avoided are small, widely spaced seedlings and large canopy-level trees. In general, Baird’s tapirs will move to another plant before all of the leaves are consumed on the one it is currently eating. They typically feed in large treefalls or secondary forest because of the high density of understory plants which are generally highly digestible and have few defensive toxins. Occasionally they will rise on their hind feet to reach leaves beyond their normal reach or knock down slender or dead plants to get fruit or leaves. The assimilation of nutrients seems to be poor based on the large overall volume and significant amount of recognizable plant parts in T. bairdii feces.
Plant Foods: leaves; wood, bark, or stems; fruit; flowers
Primary Diet: herbivore (Folivore , Frugivore , Lignivore)
Historically, Baird’s tapirs ranged from southeastern Mexico through northern Columbia to the Gulf of Guayaquil in Ecuador. Today they are found in isolated populations in the same range. They are considered extinct in El Salvador.
Biogeographic Regions: neotropical (Native )
Due to the seasonal stability of their habitat, it has been suggested that Tapirus bairdii individuals form long-term monogamous pairs in which the pairs defend a territory. The sex ratio of males to females is 1 to 1.
Mating System: monogamous
Baird’s tapirs can breed anytime of the year, although breeding may be more common just prior to rainy seasons, as in their close relative T. terrestris. The gestation period is 390 to 400 days. Litter size is one with an average birth mass of 9.4 kg. The average number of litters per year for a T. bairdii female is 0.7. Weaning occurs after one year. Age of sexual maturity is not known for T. bairdii. Malayan tapirs (Tapirus indicus), a Southeast Asian tapir species, mature at three years and Brazilian tapirs (T. terrestris) have been known to conceive as early as 23 months and given birth as old as 28 years. The age structure of T. bairdii populations is approximately 82% adults, 12% juveniles, and 6% young. The proportion of young individuals increases in persistently hunted areas.
Breeding interval: Baird's tapirs breed at most once per year, average reproduction attempts per year is 0.7.
Breeding season: Baird's tapirs can breed anytime of the year but likely breed just prior to the rainy season.
Range number of offspring: 1 to 1.
Range gestation period: 390 to 400 days.
Average weaning age: 12 months.
Range time to independence: 1 to 2 years.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; year-round breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; viviparous
Average birth mass: 9400 g.
Average number of offspring: 1.
Offspring remain with their mothers for one to two years. Both parents play a role in raising the young, as the family unit moves and sleeps together. The mother will guide the young by utilizing a nudging motion with her proboscis.
Parental Investment: altricial ; pre-fertilization (Provisioning, Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Male, Female); pre-independence (Protecting: Male, Female)
The Baird's tapir (Tapirus bairdii), also known as the Central American tapir, is a species of tapir native to Mexico, Central America, and northwestern South America.[4] It is the largest of the three species of tapir native to the Americas, as well as the largest native land mammal in both Central and South America.[5]
The Baird's tapir is named after the American naturalist Spencer Fullerton Baird,[6] who traveled to Mexico in 1843 and observed the animals. However, the species was first documented by another American naturalist, W. T. White.[7]
Like the other American tapirs (the mountain tapir and the South American tapir), the Baird's tapir is commonly called danta by people in all areas. In the regions around Oaxaca and Veracruz, it is referred to as the anteburro. Panamanians, and Colombians call it macho de monte, and in Belize, where the Baird's tapir is the national animal, it is known as the mountain cow.
In Mexico, it is called tzemen in Tzeltal; in Lacandon, it is called cash-i-tzimin, meaning "jungle horse" and in Tojolab'al it is called niguanchan, meaning "big animal". In Panama, the Kunas people call the Baird's tapir moli in their colloquial language (Tule kaya), oloalikinyalilele, oloswikinyaliler, or oloalikinyappi in their political language (Sakla kaya), and ekwirmakka or ekwilamakkatola in their spiritual language (Suar mimmi kaya).
The Baird's tapir is found in many diverse vegetation types. They can withstand elevations from sea level to up to 3600 meters. The animal can be found in wet areas like mangrove forests, marshes, swamp areas, and wet tropical rainforests. It also resides in drier areas like riparian woodlands, deciduous forests, and mountainous cloud forests. It prefers secondary growth forests, when available, due to increase in understory plants for foraging and protection. Food and water availability as well as protection are key factors in habitat selection.[8]
The Baird's tapir has a distinctive cream-colored marking on its face, throat, and tips of its ears, with a dark spot on each cheek, behind and below the eye. The rest of its bristly hair is dark brown or grayish brown. The animal is very muscly, and about the size of a small donkey. A long thin mane is present but not always conspicuous. It has two small oval shaped eyes flush with the side of the head. Its ears are large, oval-shaped and not very mobile. Baird's tapirs average 2 m (6.6 ft) in length, but can range between 1.8 and 2.5 m (5.9 and 8.2 ft), not counting a stubby, vestigial tail of 5–13 cm (2.0–5.1 in), and 73–120 cm (2.40–3.94 ft) in height. Body mass in adults can range from 150 to 300 kg (330 to 660 lb). Like the other species of tapirs, they have small, stubby tails. Their snout and upper lips project forward to create a fleshy and flexible proboscis. This proboscis is their strongest sense organ that aids in finding food and detecting physical stimuli. Their legs are short and slender; well adapted to rapid movement through underbrush. They have four toes on each front foot, and three toes on each back foot.[9][10][11][12]
The gestation period is about 400 days, after which one offspring is born to an average mass of 9.4 kg.[12] Multiple births are extremely rare, but in September 2020, a Baird's tapir in Boston's Franklin Park Zoo birthed twins.[13] The babies, as with all species of tapir, have reddish-brown hair with white spots and stripes. This pattern creates a camouflage which affords them excellent protection in the shady understory of the forest. This pattern eventually fades into the adult coloration.
For the first week of their lives, infant Baird's tapirs are hidden in secluded locations while their mothers forage for food and return periodically to nurse them. Later, the young follow their mothers on feeding expeditions. At three weeks of age, the young are able to swim. Weaning occurs after one year, and sexual maturity is usually reached 6 to 12 months later. Baird's tapirs can live for over 30 years.
The Baird's tapir may be active at all hours, but is primarily nocturnal. It forages for leaves and fallen fruit, using well-worn tapir paths which zigzag through the thick undergrowth of the forest. The animal usually stays close to water and enjoys swimming and wading – on especially hot days, individuals will rest in a watering hole for hours with only their heads above water. When in danger, these animals will seek water.
It generally leads a solitary life, though small feeding groups are not uncommon, and individuals, especially those of different ages (young with their mothers, juveniles with adults), are often observed together. The animals communicate with one another through shrill whistles and squeaks.
When the Baird's tapir mate, they form long-term monogamous pairs. These pairs are known to defend territory. Though they can breed at any point in the year, it is most common prior to rainy seasons. Both parents take part in raising the children, as they move and sleep together as a unit. The mother will guide young by a nudging movement with her proboscis.[14]
The Baird's tapir has a symbiotic relationship with cleaner birds that remove ticks from its fur: the yellow-headed caracara (Milvago chimachima) and the black vulture (Coragyps atratus) have both been observed removing and eating ticks from tapirs. Baird's tapirs often lie down for cleaning, and also present tick-infested areas to the cleaner birds by its lifting limbs and rolling from one side to the other.
These animals also have a marginal but noted effect as seed dispersers. Guanacaste (Enterolobium cyclocarpum), Sapodilla (Manilkara zapota), and Encina (Quercus oleoides) have all found to be sometimes passable through the tapir digestive system. The intense chewing of these hard seeds serve to scarify them before germination and can improve the seed's likelihood of success.[15][16]
The Baird's tapir is herbivorous, rummaging from the forest floor to 1.5 meters over the ground. Leaves from an assortment of plant types provide the greater part of their eating regimen, yet they likewise eat twigs, blossoms, hedges, grasses, and fruits. Fruits tend to be favorable when in season, but it depends on its availability. Dietary makeup of plant species additionally fluctuates with season. The presence of armor or biting insects on a plant does not hinder them from consuming that plant. They burn through the majority of their waking hours foraging in a zigzag fashion.[8]
These animals lean toward plant types of medium to tall level, yet the main plants that are totally kept away from are small, widely dispersed seedlings and large shade-level trees. By and large, it will move onto another plant before each of the leaves are consumed on the one it is presently eating. They commonly feed in enormous tree falls or secondary forests because of the great thickness of understory plants which are for, the most part, exceptionally digestible and have not many protective poisons. Once in a while they will ascend on their rear feet to arrive at leaves past their ordinary reach, or knock down slim or dead plants to get fruit or leaves. The absorption of nutrients in light of the huge volume and extreme diversity of recognizable plant parts in their excrement is by all accounts poor.[17]
Attacks on humans are rare and normally in self-defense. In 2006, Carlos Manuel Rodríguez Echandi, the former Costa Rican Minister of Environment and Energy, was attacked and injured by a Baird's tapir after he followed it off the trail.[18]
Due to their size, adults can be potentially dangerous to humans, and should not be approached if spotted in the wild. The animal is most likely to follow or chase a human for a bit, though they have been known to charge and gore humans on rare occasions.
According to the IUCN, the Baird's tapir is endangered. There are many contributing factors in the decline of the species, including loss of habitat from deforestation, forest fires, and large scale industrial projects. In certain areas, poaching, disease transmission from domesticated animals, pollution of native water bodies, and the developing effects of climate change all threaten this species. Though the animal is only hunted by a few humans, any loss of life is a serious blow to the tapir population, especially because their reproductive rate is so slow.
In Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Panama, hunting of the Baird's tapirs is illegal, but the laws protecting them are often unenforced. The issues of illegal logging in conserved areas also threaten these animals. Therefore, many conservationists are urging for the protection of existing habitat by improving maintenance and protection in existing habitat, through strengthening partnership with indigenous territories. Goals also include re-establishing corridors of connection between existing habitat including the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor, and improving education of locals to uphold and protect biodiversity.[19][20]
Captive breeding programs are helpful with many large terrestrial species, but there is a study showing a small population of Baird's tapirs in North American and Central American zoos had inbreeding and divergence from the wild population.[21] Conservationists are urging for thoughtful approaches to breeding programs that focus on maintaining genetic diversity.[22]
Due to its size, an adult Baird's tapir has very few natural predators, with only large adult American crocodiles (4 metres or 13 feet or more) and adult jaguars capable of preying on Baird's tapirs. Even in these cases, the outcomes are unpredictable and often in the Baird's tapir's favor, as is evident on multiple Baird's tapirs documented in Corcovado National Park with large claw marks covering their hides. However, juveniles may be preyed on by smaller crocodiles and by pumas.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) The Baird's tapir (Tapirus bairdii), also known as the Central American tapir, is a species of tapir native to Mexico, Central America, and northwestern South America. It is the largest of the three species of tapir native to the Americas, as well as the largest native land mammal in both Central and South America.
