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Wildlife

Endangered

Baird's tapir

Tapirus bairdii

A Baird's tapir mother and her striped young standing at the edge of a forest path
Image: Rhododendrites / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Endangered IUCN: EN · Endangered global assessment

What it is

Baird's tapir (Tapirus bairdii) is a heavy, dark brown plant eater with a short, fleshy trunk, white edged ears and pale lips. Its young are born with light stripes and spots. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists it as Endangered.

Range

Rainforests, cloud forests and swamps from southern Mexico through Central America to Panama.

What happened

It feeds on leaves, twigs and fruit and spreads the seeds of many forest plants in its dung. Females give birth to their young after a long pregnancy.

When / status

Endangered now, and its numbers keep falling.

Human role

Forest clearing for farms and cattle, hunting and road deaths threaten it.

Sources