Tigers (Panthera tigris) and leopards (Panthera pardus) are the major natural predators of Malayan tapirs; however, they are not often preyed upon. The black and white pattern of the adults disrupts the body lines and makes them more difficult to recognize as potential prey. The white saddle does not suggest the form of the entire animal since the rest of the individual remains obscure in the dark. If an individual is attacked, it will run away and find the nearest source of water to escape the chase. They have thickened skin, up to 2.5 cm, on the back of the head and nape, thought to be a defensive measure against fanged animals. If a predator does attach to the neck, the tapir will attempt to bash the assailant against a tree. Humans (Homo sapiens) sometimes hunt tapirs for food.
Known Predators:
Anti-predator Adaptations: cryptic
Malayan tapirs have large, stocky bodies with a prominent, prehensile proboscis formed by an extended nose and upper lip. Individuals range from 250 to 540 kg, with a length of 1.8 to 2.5 m and a height of 0.9 to 1.1 m. Females tend to be larger than males by about 25 to 100 kg. Adults have a dramatic color pattern, with a black front half of their body, white sides, and black hind legs. This pattern is often referred to as the "saddle" pattern because of its position and shape. White fur rims the ears. The eyes are small, round, and not very mobile. Malayan tapirs have four toes on their forefeet and three toes on their hind feet, each of which ends in a hoof. The fourth toe of each of the forefeet does not touch the ground, so footprints show the imprints of three digits. Newborn Malayan tapirs lack the adult coat pattern and have a coat with whitish stripes and spots which gradually fade by six months of age.
Range mass: 250 to 540 kg.
Average mass: 296 kg.
Range length: 1.8 to 2.5 m.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; homoiothermic; bilateral symmetry
Sexual Dimorphism: female larger
Average lifespan of Malayan tapirs is approximately 30 years. They have been recorded living up to 36.5 years in captivity.
Range lifespan
Status: wild: 30 (high) years.
Range lifespan
Status: captivity: 36.5 (high) years.
Average lifespan
Status: wild: 25 years.
Average lifespan
Status: captivity: 30 years.
Average lifespan
Status: wild: 30.0 years.
Malayan tapirs are forest dwellers that inhabit tropical terrestrial habitats. They occur in rain forests, jungles, primary forests, secondary forests, mature rubber plantations, forest edges, and sometimes open fields or cultivated areas. Tapirs may inhabit previously logged forests for browsing, but require areas of nearby primary forest as refugia and prefer late-stage successional forests to early-stage successional forests. Although Malayan tapirs have been recorded at altitudes up to 2000 m, there is a negative correlation between tapir abundance and elevation, with the highest abundance generally in lower slopes and valley bottoms. Malayan tapirs are in similar abundance both near and far from forest edges and are found close to villages and within 5 km of major cities. Although they are the least aquatic of the extant Tapiridae, Malayan tapirs seek out marshes and rivers for swimming and may wallow in mud holes to inhibit biting insects and cool off in the hot sun. Tapir tracks have been found at tributaries and tapirs are often sighted near headwaters and swamps. In Thailand, these tapirs live in dry dipterocarp and mixed deciduous forests in the rainy season. They move into evergreen forests during the dry season to avoid forest fires and food scarcity. Topography of their habitat generally varies from gentle undulation to steep hills.
Range elevation: 0 to 2000 m.
Habitat Regions: tropical ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: forest ; rainforest
Wetlands: swamp
Other Habitat Features: agricultural
Malayan tapirs are restricted to southern Vietnam, southern Cambodia, southern Myanmar (Burma), the Tak Province of Thailand, the Malay Peninsula, and Sumatra south of the Toba Highlands.
Biogeographic Regions: oriental (Native )
The only vocalizations of Malayan tapirs are whistles, clicks, and hiccup-like noises, often made in response to fear or pain, as an appeasement to conspecifics, as a warning call, or during mating. They have an acute sense of smell and good hearing with large, round ears. They often perform visual or scent cues during mating rituals, sometimes performing flehmen to better detect pheromones. Individuals smell and touch each other when first meeting.
Communication Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Other Communication Modes: pheromones
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Malayan tapirs are endangered on both the IUCN Red List and the United States Endangered Species Act list and an Appendix I status in the CITES appendices. The most serious threat to Malayan tapir survival is that of forest conversion for agriculture and human settlement. However, agricultural development has slowed as a result of industrial and manufacturing development in southeast Asia. Hunting of Malayan tapirs has all but ceased, except for the accidental shooting or trapping of individuals. Some aborigines occasionally consume the meat and some exporting and smuggling occurs in Thailand. In Malaysia, Malayan tapirs have been given total protection under the Wild Animals and Birds Ordinance No. 2 of 1955, and they have been protected in Indonesia since 1931. Also, the number of Malayan tapirs in captivity has increased steadily since their status as endangered. The Malayan tapir trade has been monitored in addition to the establishment of numerous wildlife management groups throughout their geographic range. The Tapir Specialist Group is a subgroup of the IUCN and is dedicated to the protection and conservation of Malayan tapirs.
US Federal List: endangered
CITES: appendix i
State of Michigan List: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: endangered
In Southwest Sumatra, Malayan tapirs are considered a problem species because they tend to strip the bark from rubber trees. In West Sumatra, they have been reported eating watermelon and cucumber crops. However, these are the only occurrences of such actions and this remains the only possible negative economic importance. Otherwise, the species has no adverse effects on humans.
Negative Impacts: crop pest
Malayan tapirs has been hunted for meat by aborigines, although that is rare now. Tapirs are seed dispersers and benefit native plant communities.
Positive Impacts: food
Fruit constitutes a large portion of the tapir diet and they help disperse the seeds of the fruit they eat. They may be the key dispersers of some communities of plants. Malayan tapirs may transport seeds both by swallowing them and defecating later and by eating fruit and spitting out the seeds. Seed dispersal may be up to a number of kilometers, generating a complex and remote seed shadow, and may disperse large numbers of seeds. Some seeds germinate faster after passing through a tapir gut.
Malayan tapirs host a number of ectoparasites, endoparasites, protozoal enteric parasites, and hemoparasites. These include protozoan blood parasites, such as Babesia, vampire moths (Calyptra eustrigata), ticks, such as Amblyomma testudinarium, mites, such as Sarcoptes tapiri, ciliate protozoans (Ciliophorma), such as g. Balantidium species, flagellated protozoans (Mastigophora), such as g. Giargia species; parasitic unicellular eukaryotes, such as trypanosomes; and parasitic flatworms, such as trematodes.
Ecosystem Impact: disperses seeds
Commensal/Parasitic Species:
Malayan tapirs are frugivores, folivores, and lignivores. They are selective browsers, selecting high quality food when available. The diet consists of leaves (Baccaurea parviflora and Symplocis crassipes), buds, growing twigs, bark, herbs (Curculigo latifolia and Homalomena deltoidea), low growing succulents (Homalomena species and Phyllagathis rotundifolia), shrubs (Lasianthus maingayi and Helicia attenuata), fruits (Crescentia alata and Virola oleifera), club moss (Selanginella willdenonii), grasses, tubers, and aquatic plants. Although they are selective browsers, they feed on more than 122 species of plants and do not concentrate feeding in any particular location. Instead, they move in a zigzag fashion feeding on one plant and then moving on to another, often covering great distances. Malayan tapirs are non-ruminant and hind-gut fermenters with an enlarged cecum and a simple stomach. Some seeds that they ingest are not digested and may be dispersed long distances from their origin. Fruit tends to be a large portion of the diet of the species, especially considering they are hind-gut fermenters which generally cope better with high-fiber, low-quality forage, although the relative importance varies between populations and habitats. Malayan tapirs eat between 4 and 5 percent of their body weight each day, while pregnant, lactating, or young members of the species may require a higher intake. They may also ingest large amounts of a plant containing a strong liquifying agent permitting easy passage of stools, most likely to assist the smooth functioning of its simple digestive system. The proboscis plays an important role in browsing, used to pluck leaves from branches and place them into the animal's mouth. In order to obtain desired branches or leaves, thin saplings (less than 3.8 cm) may be snapped off while thicker saplings or branches (2 to 6.5 cm) may be pushed over or walked down. Additionally, Malayan tapirs crave salt and travel upwards of 5 km to seek out salt licks.
Plant Foods: leaves; roots and tubers; wood, bark, or stems; fruit; bryophytes
Primary Diet: herbivore (Folivore , Frugivore , Lignivore)
Malayan tapirs are monogamous during mating season and generally breed during the months of May and June. Initial introduction of mates is usually through scent signals and also sometimes visual cues. Sometimes mates will copulate in shallow water. Mates may spend a great deal of time before copulation participating in courtship rituals, such as periods of chasing, sexual investigation, or circling and sniffing of the genitalia. In addition, individuals may initiate biting of the flanks and often use vocalizations such as wheezing or whistling noises. Spraying of urine and flehmen (curling of the upper lip which facilitates the transfer of pheromones) may also occur prior to intromission.
Mating System: monogamous
Malayan tapirs breed during the months of May and June, producing a single offspring every other year on average, although twins have been reported. The gestation period of the female lasts between 390 and 410 days (13 to 13.5 months). Weaning of offspring usually takes place between 6 and 8 months after birth. Independence occurs when the mother gives birth to a new offspring, sometimes even later. Generally, individuals become sexually mature around the age of 30 months, although this may be earlier depending on nutrition and compatibility of the breeding pair (in captivity). Males tend to become sexually mature slightly later than females, generally by a few months. Copulation will usually take place at least once during the female's 28-32 day estrous cycle following sexual maturation. Interbirth intervals are rarely less than 18 months although cows usually return to a cyclic estrous cycle during lactation.
Breeding interval: Malayan tapirs breed every two years.
Breeding season: Malayan tapirs breed from May to June.
Average number of offspring: 1.
Range gestation period: 390 to 410 days.
Range weaning age: 6 to 8 months.
Average time to independence: 1.6 years.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 2.8 years.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 3 years.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; viviparous
Average birth mass: 6500 g.
Average number of offspring: 1.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
Sex: male: 1095 days.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
Sex: female: 1095 days.
A healthy calf can usually stand within one or two hours of birth and first nursing occurs within two to five hours, proceeding to feedings two to three times a day. Calves eat solid food as early as two weeks old and are capable of swimming at three weeks old. All care and protection is done by the female parent until independence, although care decreases dramatically after about 3 months. Calves tend to be followers, not hiders. Often mothers and calves will rest, investigate, and swim together. Most adult males are tolerant of newborns and may even sleep with them, although violence may arise when males attempt to copulate with females too soon after birth of the calf. Newborns bear a vividly spotted and striped pattern that contrasts with the black and white adult pattern. This pattern gradually fades by six months. Malayan tapir calves grow rapidly and are weaned by 6 to 8 months after birth. They normally stay with their mother until the birth of a new offspring, sometimes longer.
Parental Investment: precocial ; female parental care ; pre-fertilization (Provisioning, Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-independence (Protecting: Female)
World Tapir Day 27th April
The Malayan tapir (Tapirus indicus), also called Asian tapir, Asiatic tapir, Oriental tapir, Indian tapir, piebald tapir, or black-and-white tapir, is the only tapir species outside of the Americas. It is native to Southeast Asia from the Malay Peninsula to Sumatra. It has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2008, as the population is estimated to comprise fewer than 2,500 mature individuals.[1]
The scientific name Tapirus indicus was proposed by Anselme Gaëtan Desmarest in 1819 who referred to a tapir described by Pierre-Médard Diard.[2] Tapirus indicus brevetianus was coined by a Dutch zoologist in 1926 who described a black Malayan tapir from Sumatra that had been sent to Rotterdam Zoo in the early 1920s.[4]
Phylogenetic analyses of 13 Malayan tapirs showed that the species is monophyletic.[5] It was placed in the genus Acrocodia by Colin Groves and Peter Grubb in 2011.[6] However, a comparison of mitochondrial DNA of 16 perissodactyl species revealed that the Malayan tapir forms a sister group together with the Tapirus species native to the Americas. It was the first Tapirus species that genetically diverged from the group, estimated about 25 million years ago in the Late Oligocene.[7]
The Malayan tapir is easily identified by its markings, most notably the light-colored patch that extends from its shoulders to its hindquarters. It is covered in black hair, except for the tips of its ears, which, as with other tapirs, are rimmed with white. The pattern is for camouflage; the disrupted coloration breaks up its outline and makes it more difficult to recognize; other animals may mistake it for a large rock, rather than prey, when it is lying down to sleep.[8]
The Malayan tapir is the largest of the four extant tapir species and grows to between 1.8 and 2.5 m (5 ft 11 in and 8 ft 2 in) in length, not counting a stubby tail of only 5 to 10 cm (2.0 to 3.9 in) in length, and stands 90 to 110 cm (2 ft 11 in to 3 ft 7 in) tall. It typically weighs between 250 and 320 kg (550 and 710 lb), although some adults can weigh up to 540 kg (1,190 lb).[9][10][11][12] The females are usually larger than the males. Like other tapir species, it has a small, stubby tail and a long, flexible proboscis. It has four toes on each front foot and three toes on each back foot. The Malayan tapir has rather poor eyesight, but excellent hearing and sense of smell.
It has a large sagittal crest, a bone running along the middle of the skull that is necessary for muscle attachment. It also possesses unusually positioned orbits, an unusually shaped cranium with the frontal bones elevated, and a retracted nasal incision. These adaptations evolved to support the proboscis. This proboscis caused a retraction of bones and cartilage in the face during the evolution of the tapir, and even caused the loss of some cartilages, facial muscles, and the bony wall of the nasal chamber.
Malayan tapirs have very poor eyesight, instead relying on excellent senses of smell and hearing. The eyes are small with brown irises, positioned on the sides of the face. Their eyes are often covered in a blue haze, which is corneal cloudiness thought to be caused by repetitive exposure to light. Corneal cloudiness is a condition in which the cornea starts to lose its transparency. The cornea is necessary for the transmitting and focusing of outside light as it enters the eye, and cloudiness can cause vision loss. This causes the Malayan tapir to have very inadequate vision, both on land and in water, where they spend the majority of their time. Also, as these tapirs are most active at night and since they have poor eyesight, it is harder for them to search for food and avoid predators in the dark.[13][14]
Two melanistic Malayan tapirs were observed in Jerangau Forest Reserve in Malaysia in 2000.[15] A black Malayan tapir was also recorded in Tekai Tembeling Forest Reserve in Pahang state in 2016.[16]
The Malayan tapir is distributed throughout the tropical lowland rainforests of Southeast Asia, including Sumatra in Indonesia, Peninsular Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand. Populations in Sabah in Borneo may have persisted until recently but are now considered extinct.[17]
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Malayan tapirs are primarily solitary, marking out large tracts of land as their territory, though these areas usually overlap with those of other individuals. Tapirs mark out their territories by spraying urine on plants, and they often follow distinct paths, which they have bulldozed through the undergrowth. Exclusively herbivorous, the animal forages for the tender shoots and leaves of more than 115 species of plants (around 30 are particularly preferred), moving slowly through the forest and pausing often to eat and note the scents left behind by other tapirs in the area.[18] However, when threatened or frightened, the tapir can run quickly, despite its considerable bulk, and can also defend itself with its strong jaws and sharp teeth. Malayan tapirs communicate with high-pitched squeaks and whistles. They usually prefer to live near water and often bathe and swim, and they are also able to climb steep slopes. Tapirs are mainly active at night, though they are not exclusively nocturnal. They tend to eat soon after sunset or before sunrise, and they will often nap in the middle of the night. This behaviour characterizes them as crepuscular animals.
The gestation period of the Malayan tapir is about 390–395 days, after which a single calf is born that weighs around 6.8 kg (15 lb). Malayan tapirs are the largest of the four tapir species at birth and in general grow more quickly than their relatives.[19] Young tapirs of all species have brown hair with white stripes and spots, a pattern that enables them to hide effectively in the dappled light of the forest. This baby coat fades into adult coloration between four and seven months after birth. Weaning occurs between six and eight months of age, at which time the babies are nearly full-grown, and the animals reach sexual maturity around age three. Breeding typically occurs in April, May or June, and females generally produce one calf every two years. Malayan tapirs can live up to 30 years, both in the wild and in captivity.
Because of its size, the Malayan tapir has few natural predators, and even reports of killings by tigers (Panthera tigris), leopards (Panthera pardus), or dholes (Cuon alpinus) are scarce.[20]
The main threat to the Malayan tapir is loss and destruction of habitat through deforestation. Large tracts of forests in Thailand and Malaysia have been converted for planting oil palms.[1] Habitat fragmentation in peninsular Malaysia caused displacement of 142 Malayan tapirs between 2006 and 2010; some were rescued and relocated, 15 of them were roadkills.[21]
The Malayan tapir (Tapirus indicus), also called Asian tapir, Asiatic tapir, Oriental tapir, Indian tapir, piebald tapir, or black-and-white tapir, is the only tapir species outside of the Americas. It is native to Southeast Asia from the Malay Peninsula to Sumatra. It has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2008, as the population is estimated to comprise fewer than 2,500 mature individuals.
