Tapirs are medium-sized mammals that are distantly related to both the horse and the elephant. They sport a flexible proboscis at the end of their snouts, much like an elephant's trunk. Baird’s Tapirs are short and stout, with sturdy legs and thick, barrel-shaped bodies. Adults are dark-furred with white-tipped ears and a yellow throat, while juveniles have reddish fur with light spots and stripes, which darken with age. Tapirs have four toes on each of their front feet and three on each of the back (ARKive 2002).

The Tapir Gallery A mother Baird's Tapir and her baby. Chiapas, Mexico.

Baird's Tapir Project, Charkles Foerster Two Costa Rican Tapirs who are under observation by Charles Foerster's Baird's Tapir Project.

How Do Tapirs Reproduce? Tapirs generally live in small families or pairs, and communicate with each other by scent and with shrill whistle calls. Tapir do not have a distinct breeding season, and females give birth to one live offspring at a time throughout the year after a gestation period of about thirteen months. Offspring stay with their mother for two years, and then are set free into the wild to begin their own families (ARKive 2002).

Baird's Tapir: A K-Strategist Species

Baird's Tapirs are known as K-strategist or K-selected species. This means that tapirs are a species that tends to reproduce later in life, after a long maturation period. They also have long gestation periods. Humans are one example of K-strategist species. The offspring K-strategist species produce tend to have long lifespans, and are born in small numbers (Miller, 2005). The tapir, for example, usually only produces one baby for every pregnancy (ARKive 2002).

El Sol de Osa A Tapir from Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica. Doesn't he look happy?

K-strategist species tend to have internal pregnancies, with the young developing safely inside their mothers. They mature slowly, and are cared for by one or both parents until they are strong enough to live on their own. This process produces strong offspring that can compete for resources (Miller 2005).


Why is Being a K-Strategist Species A Problem?

Unfortunately for the tapirs, being a K-strategist species means that they are highly vulnerable to rapid environmental change. Since they only produce one offspring at a time, and that is every few years since the gestation and maturation periods are so long, they are unable to adapt quickly to changes in their ecosystems. For example, an insect would be able to adapt quickly because it reproduces quickly and in large quantities (Miller 2005).

National Geographic

The tapirs have no such luxury, and as a result, when their environment is damaged, or a species of plant it depends on for food dies out, it takes a long time for it to adapt to these changes. In a world where the environment is being damaged and changed by humans every day, the tapirs are threatened because they simply can't adapt fast enough (Miller 2005, ARKive 2002).

Where Can You Find A Baird's Tapir?

As mentioned above, Baird's Tapirs are found mainly in Central America, namely in Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Panama. It was once rumored that the tapir had been discovered in Ecuador, but these reports were false. Baird’s tapir is now extinct in El Salvador as a result of deforestation (Alais, Lloyd, and Taylor, 2002). Tapirs need a home range of at least 125 hectares of land to forage and roam (Foerster & Vaughan, 2002). If too much rainforest is destroyed, the tapirs have nowhere to live and subsequently die.

Baird's Tapir Project, Charles Foerster Baird's Tapir Distribution Map.

What is the Tapir's Niche?

Tapirs have three very important roles in a neotropical rain forest ecosystem: first, they are an important resource for rural dwellers both for their hides and for their meat. Second, they are an important indicator species as to the health of their ecosystem. And third (and perhaps most importantly), tapirs disperse seeds through their digestive process, supporting the biodiversity levels of its home range (Foerster & Vaughan, 2002).

Cloudbridge Fauna A Tapir foraging for food.

Rural populations in places like Costa Rica depend on tapirs for their hides and for their meat (World Book 2005). Unfortunately, overhunting has decimated the tapir population and put them seriously at risk. Especially since tapirs tend to live in small groups rather than large communities and have low reproductive rates, any disruption to their habitat and the decimation of their population can be devastating and jeopardize their survival (Hernandez-Divers and Leandro-Loria, 2005).

As An Indicator Species Since tapirs are so sensitive to environmental change as a result of their low reproduction and adaptation rates, any sudden and violent change will undoubtedly result in the deaths of many tapirs. These deaths will indicate that there are problems with the tapirs' environment, and provide a warning for humans whose responsibility it is to fix those problems (ARKive 2002).

Milwaukee County Zoo A young Baird's Tapir.

University of Texas at Austin, Digimorph A Tapir named Prima. She was attacked by a jaguar a few months before this photo was taken, but luckily she survived.

As A Seed Disperser Tapirs are defined as browsers, feeding on a moderate variety of plants, seeds, herbs, and fruits. They feed on the foliage of low trees and shrubs as well (World Book 2005). Tapirs, having existed for thousands if not millions of years, perhaps pre-date the species of flora that they feed on. Tapirs act as both key seed dispersers and seed predators, ensuring the survival of at least 22 plant species (Olmos, 1997).

When the tapir ingests seeds, either through fruits, leaves, or in the seed form, there are several possibilities for that ingested seed. First, the seed might be digested and rendered non-reproductive. Second, the seed might be excreted with the rest of the tapir’s waste. And third, the seed might be simply spit out upon its introduction into the tapir’s mouth, especially if the seed is too big. No matter which of three outcomes affects the seeds, all contribute to the distribution of the seeds over hundred of kilometers, therefore proving the tapir to be essential to the survival of said seeds. In Costa Rica’s lush, verdant rainforests, Baird’s tapirs play a key role in the survival of at least 22 out of the 23 species of plants they ingest (Olmos, 1997). If the tapir dies out, these species will also die, and the biodiversity levels of the rainforest will drop.