Baird's Tapir

Tapirus bairdii

Baird's tapirs have a pig-like body ranging from 6 ½ to 8 feet in length, and up to 550 lbs in weight with a short tail and dark brown bristly hair.

Large funnel shaped ears and a flexible snout resembling a shorter version of an elephants trunk give the tapir an unusual appearance.

They live in tropical forests near streams from southern Mexico to northern Colombia.

Their diet consists of aquatic vegetation, buds, leaves, shoots and fallen fruit.

All tapirs are listed as endangered- due to poaching and loss of habitat.

Location at Palm Beach Zoo

• At the suspension bridge at our Tropics of the Americas exhibits next to the jaguars.

⇐ Back to List of Mammals