Baird's Tapir - The Largest Indigenous Terrestrial Mammal In Central America

By:


Tapirs are one of the biggest animals you may witness in Corcovado National Park. The Baird's Tapir is named after the American naturalist Spencer Fullerton Baird who traveled to Mexico in 1843 to observe the animals. This species of tapir can be found from Veracruz, Mexico down to Ecuador. Corcovado National Park is one of the proud places to hold this rare species of Latin Tapirs.

There are three large kinds of Tapirs in South America, among them the Baird's Tapir is the largest one. Adult tapirs have short sparse black hair over leathery black skin. Their skin is really tough, 1 to 3 cm thick! Juveniles will be brown with white spots and stripes. The tapir has a short tail and a long flexible upper lip, with which it picks leaves and pushes food into its mouth.

Tapirs have incredibly strong dented molars for grinding hard seeds and tough plant material. They are particular about what and how much they eat of certain plants. It has also been noticed that tapirs prefer to defecate in water or repeatedly in the same place on land, most likely to reduce their trail to predators.

Perhaps due to previous heavy hunting, the tapir has become extremely shy, covert, and evasive. Their behavior is crepuscular that meaning they are active at dusk and early morning, but they have also been known to be active at night. They use routine trails to and from wallowing and feeding sites.

Don't get the impression that they might not be fast enough with that gigantic body. If they are startled, they can run as fast as a human on their short, powerful legs. Considering their size, they can move surprisingly quietly even over muddy forest floors because their toes come together when they lift up their feet.

Tapir was seen all over Costa Rica before guns were introduced. Now they reside in the national parks. Some of the national parks have a good collection of Tapirs, but Corcovado holds the highest number of about 100-300.

Adult tapirs live independently except when a female is raising her young. Females have one baby at a time, which stays with her for a year, at which point it will be about two-thirds of her weight.

Are you interested to see and discover more about these tapirs? If you plan to travel across Central America and go on a nature trip, go ahead and visit Costa Rica to see them.


About the Author:
Marina K. Villatoro is an expat living with her family and traveling in Central America. If you want to see the Baird Tapir visit Costa Rica.



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


|

Loading...
Related....
Videos...

Recent UnCategorized Articles

Comments

Still can't find what you are looking for? Search for it!

Loading

Copyright 2005-2011 ArticleSnatch, LLC - All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy | Terms of Service.