The
Mountain Tapir or
Woolly Tapir (
Tapirus pinchaque) is the smallest of the four
speciesIn biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of
tapirA Tapir is a large browsing mammal, similar in shape to a pig, with a short, prehensile snout. Tapirs inhabit jungle and forest regions of South America, Central America, and Southeast Asia. There are four species of Tapirs: the Brazilian Tapir, the Malayan Tapir, Baird's Tapir and the Mountain...
and is the only one to live outside of tropical
rainforestRainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
s in the wild. It is most easily distinguished from other tapirs by its thick woolly coat and white lips.
The species name comes from the term
"La Pinchaque", an imaginary beast said to inhabit the same regions as the Mountain Tapir.
Description
Mountain tapirs are black or very dark brown in color, with occasional pale hairs flecked in amongst the darker fur. The fur becomes noticeably paler on the underside, around the anal region, and on the cheeks. A distinct white band runs around the lips, although it may vary in extent, and there are usually also white bands along the upper surface of the ears. In adults, the rump has paired patches of bare skin, which may help to indicate sexual maturity. The eyes are initially blue, but change to a pale brown as the animal ages. Unlike all other species of tapir, the fur is long and woolly, especially on the underside and flanks, reaching 3.5 centimetres (1.4 in) or more in some individuals.
Adults are usually around 1.8 metres (5.9 ft) in length and 0.75 to 1 m (2.5 to 3.3 ft) in height at the shoulder. They typically weigh between 150 and 225 kg (330.7 and 496 lb), and while the sexes are of similar size, females tend to be around 25 to 100 kg (55.1 to 220.5 lb) heavier than the males.
Like the other types of tapir, they have small stubby tails and long, flexible
proboscisA proboscis is an elongated appendage from the head of an animal, either a vertebrate or an invertebrate. In simpler terms, a proboscis is the straw-like mouth found in several varieties of species.-Etymology:...
es. They have four toes on each front foot and three toes on each back foot, each with large nails and supported by a padded sole. A patch of bare skin, pale pink or grey in colour, extends just above each toe.
Reproduction
Female mountain tapirs have a 30-day estrus cycle, and typically breed only once every other year. During courtship, the males chases the female and uses soft bites, grunts, and squeals to get her attention, while the female responds with frequent squealing. After a gestation period of 392 or 393 days, the female gives birth to a single young; multiple births are very rare.
New born mountain tapirs weigh about 5.4 to 6.2 kg (11.9 to 13.7 lb) and have a brown coat with yellowish-white spots and stripes. Like the adults of their species, baby mountain tapirs have thick woolly fur to help keep them warm.
WeaningWeaning is the process of gradually introducing a mammal infant, either human or animal, to what will be its adult diet and withdrawing the supply of its mother's milk.The process takes place only in mammals, as only mammals produce milk...
begins at around three months of age. The immature coloration fades after about a year, but the mother continues to care for her young for around 18 months. Mountain Tapirs reach
sexual maturitySexual maturity is the age or stage when an organism can reproduce. It is sometimes considered synonymous with adulthood, though the two are distinct...
at age three and have lived up to 27 years in captivity.
Ecology
Tapirs are
herbivoreHerbivores are organisms that are anatomically and physiologically adapted to eat plant-based foods. Herbivory is a form of consumption in which an organism principally eats autotrophs such as plants, algae and photosynthesizing bacteria. More generally, organisms that feed on autotrophs in...
s, and eat a wide range of plants, including leaves, grasses, and bromeliads. In the wild, particularly common foods include
lupinLupinus, commonly known as Lupins or lupines , is a genus in the legume family . The genus comprises about 280 species , with major centers of diversity in South and western North America , and the Andes and secondary centers in the Mediterranean region and Africa Lupinus, commonly known as Lupins...
s,
GynoxysGynoxys is a genus of flowering plant in the Asteraceae family.It contains the following species:* Gynoxys acostae* Gynoxys azuayensis* Gynoxys baccharoides* Gynoxys campii* Gynoxys chagalensis* Gynoxys chimborazensis...
,
fernA fern is any one of a group of about 12,000 species of plants belonging to the botanical group known as Pteridophyta. Unlike mosses, they have xylem and phloem . They have stems, leaves, and roots like other vascular plants...
s, and
umbrella plantGunnera is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants, some of them gigantic. The genus is the only member of the family Gunneraceae.The 40-50 species vary enormously in leaf size...
s. It also seeks out natural
salt lickA mineral lick is a natural mineral deposit where animals in nutrient-poor ecosystems can obtain essential mineral nutrients...
s to satisfy its need for essential
mineralA mineral is a naturally occurring solid chemical substance formed through biogeochemical processes, having characteristic chemical composition, highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. By comparison, a rock is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids and does not...
s.
Mountain tapirs are also important seed dispersers within their environment, and have been identified as a
keystone speciesA keystone species is a species that has a disproportionately large effect on its environment relative to its abundance. Such species play a critical role in maintaining the structure of an ecological community, affecting many other organisms in an ecosystem and helping to determine the types and...
of the high Andes. A relatively high proportion of plant seeds eaten by mountain tapirs successfully germinate in their
dungDung may refer to:* Dung, animal feces* Dung, Doubs, a commune in the Doubs department in the Franche-Comté region in eastern France* Mundungus Fletcher or "Dung", a character in the Harry Potter novels* Dung beetle...
, probably due to a relatively inefficient digestive system and a tendency to defecate near water. Although a wide range of seeds are dispersed in this manner, those of the endangered
wax palmCeroxylon quindiuense , is a palm native to the Andean high altitude valley of Cocora in the department of Quindío, northwest Colombia.-Description:...
seem to rely almost exclusively on mountain tapirs for dispersal, and this plant, along with the highland lupine, declines dramatically whenever the animal is extirpated from an area.
Predators of mountain tapirs include cougars,
spectacled bearThe spectacled bear , also known as the Andean bear and locally as ukuko, jukumari or ucumari, is the last remaining short-faced bear and the closest living relative to the Florida spectacled bear and short-faced bears of the Middle Pleistocene to Late Pleistocene age.The spectacled bear is a...
s, and, less commonly,
jaguarThe jaguar is a big cat, a feline in the Panthera genus, and is the only Panthera species found in the Americas. The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The jaguar's present range extends from Southern United States and Mexico...
s.
Behaviour
When around other members of their species, Mountain Tapirs communicate through high-pitched whistles, and the males occasionally fight over estrous females by trying to bite each other’s rear legs. But for the most part, Mountain Tapirs are shy and lead solitary lives, spending their waking hours foraging for food on their own along well-worn tapir paths. Despite their bulk, they travel easily through dense foliage, up the steep slopes of their hilly
habitat* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...
, and in water, where they often wallow and swim.
Mountain tapirs are generally
crepuscularCrepuscular animals are those that are active primarily during twilight, that is during dawn and dusk. The word is derived from the Latin word crepusculum, meaning "twilight." Crepuscular is, thus, in contrast with diurnal and nocturnal behavior. Crepuscular animals may also be active on a bright...
, although they are more active during the day than other species of tapir. They sleep from roughly midnight to dawn, with an additional resting period during the hottest time of the day for a few hours after noon, and prefer to bed down in areas with heavy vegetation cover. Mountain tapirs forage for tender plants to eat. When trying to access high plants, it will sometimes rear up on its hind legs to reach and then grab with its prehensile snout. Though its eyesight is lacking, it gets by with its keen senses of smell and taste, as well as the sensitive bristles on its proboscis.
Male Mountain Tapirs will frequently mark their territory with
dungFeces, faeces, or fæces is a waste product from an animal's digestive tract expelled through the anus or cloaca during defecation.-Etymology:...
piles,
urineUrine is a typically sterile liquid by-product of the body that is secreted by the kidneys through a process called urination and excreted through the urethra. Cellular metabolism generates numerous by-products, many rich in nitrogen, that require elimination from the bloodstream...
, and rubbings on trees, and females will sometimes engage in these behaviors as well. The territories of individuals usually overlap, with each animal claiming over 800 hectares (3.1 sq mi), and females tending to have larger territories than males.
Distribution and habitat
The Mountain Tapir is found in the
cloud forestA cloud forest, also called a fog forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical evergreen montane moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud cover, usually at the canopy level. Cloud forests often exhibit an abundance of mosses covering the ground and...
s and
páramoThe term páramo can refer to a variety of ecosystems. Some ecologists describe the páramo broadly as “all high, tropical, montane vegetation above the continuous timberline”. A more narrow term classifies the páramo according to its regional placement - specifically located in “the northern Andes...
of the Eastern and
Central CordillerasThere are a few Cordillera Central mountain ranges in the Andes mountains of South America:* Cordillera Central, Bolivia* Cordillera Central, Colombia* Cordillera Central, Ecuador* Cordillera Central, Peru...
mountains in
ColombiaColombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
,
EcuadorEcuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
, and the far north of
PeruPeru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
. Its range may once have extended as far as western
VenezuelaVenezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, but it has long been
extirpatedLocal extinction, also known as extirpation, is the condition of a species which ceases to exist in the chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere...
from that region. The Mountain Tapir commonly lives at
elevationThe elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface ....
s between 2000 and 4300 m (6,561.7 and 14,107.6 ft), and since at this altitude temperatures routinely fall below freezing, the animal’s woolly coat is essential. During the
wet seasonThe the wet season, or rainy season, is the time of year, covering one or more months, when most of the average annual rainfall in a region occurs. The term green season is also sometimes used as a euphemism by tourist authorities. Areas with wet seasons are dispersed across portions of the...
, mountain tapirs tend to inhabit the forests of the Andes, while during the drier months, they move to the páramo where there are fewer biting
insectInsects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s to pester them.
The Mountain Tapir has no recognised subspecies.
In Peru, it is protected in the National Sanctuary Tabaconas Namballe. The species needs continuous stretches of cloud forest and páramo, rather than isolated patches, to successfully breed and maintain a healthy population, and this obstacle is a major concern for
conservationistConservationists are proponents or advocates of conservation. They advocate for the protection of all the species in an ecosystem with a strong focus on the natural environment...
s trying to protect the endangered animal.
Evolution
The Mountain Tapir is the least specialised of the living species of tapir, and has changed the least since the origin of the genus in the early
MioceneThe Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...
. Genetic studies have shown that the Mountain Tapirs diverged from its closest relative, the
Brazilian TapirThe South American Tapir , or Brazilian Tapir or Lowland Tapir or Anta, is one of four species in the tapir family, along with the Mountain Tapir, the Malayan Tapir, and Baird's Tapir...
, in the late
PlioceneThe Pliocene Epoch is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5.332 million to 2.588 million years before present. It is the second and youngest epoch of the Neogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Pliocene follows the Miocene Epoch and is followed by the Pleistocene Epoch...
, around three million years ago. This would have been shortly after the formation of the Panamanian Isthmus, allowing the ancestors of the two living species to migrate southward from their respective points of origin in Central America. However, the modern species most likely originated in the Andes, some time after this early migration.
Vulnerability
The Mountain Tapir is the most threatened of the four tapir species, classified as "Endangered" by the IUCN in 1996. Due to the fragmentation of its surviving range, populations may already have fallen below the level required to sustain genetic diversity, and the IUCN has predicted that there is a 20% chance that the species could be extinct as early as 2014.
Historically, mountain tapirs have been hunted for their meat and hides, while the toes, proboscis, and intestines are used in local
folk medicine-Description:Refers to healing practices and ideas of body physiology and health preservation known to a limited segment of the population in a culture, transmitted informally as general knowledge, and practiced or applied by anyone in the culture having prior experience.All cultures and societies...
s and as
aphrodisiacAn aphrodisiac is a substance that increases sexual desire. The name comes from Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of sexuality and love. Throughout history, many foods, drinks, and behaviors have had a reputation for making sex more attainable and/or pleasurable...
s. Since they will eat crops when available, they are also sometimes killed by farmers protecting their produce. Today,
deforestationDeforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a nonforest use. Examples of deforestation include conversion of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use....
for
agricultureAgriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
and mining, and
poachingPoaching is the illegal taking of wild plants or animals contrary to local and international conservation and wildlife management laws. Violations of hunting laws and regulations are normally punishable by law and, collectively, such violations are known as poaching.It may be illegal and in...
are the main threats to the species.
There may be only 2,500 individuals left in the wild today, making it all the more difficult for scientists to study them. There are also very few individuals found in zoos. Only a handful of breeding pairs of this species exists in captivity in the world — at the
Los Angeles ZooThe Los Angeles Zoo , is a zoo founded in 1966 and located in Los Angeles, California. The City of Los Angeles owns the entire zoo, its land and facilities, and the animals...
, the
Cheyenne Mountain ZooCheyenne Mountain Zoo is a mountainside zoo, located southwest of downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado on Cheyenne Mountain in the United States at an elevation of above sea level. The Zoo sits on out of a footprint. It is located west of the Broadmoor Hotel Resort along the slopes of Cheyenne...
in Colorado Springs, and, as of 2006, the
San Francisco ZooThe San Francisco Zoo, housing more than 260 animal species, is a zoo located in the southwestern corner of San Francisco, California, between Lake Merced and the Pacific Ocean along the Great Highway...
. In Canada, there is a mating pair in Langley, BC at the Mountain View Conservation & Breeding Centre. None are in
captivityAnimals that live under human care are in captivity. Captivity can be used as a generalizing term to describe the keeping of either domesticated animals or wild animals. This may include for example farms, private homes and zoos...
in the home range countries. The total of 9 individuals in captivity are descendants of just 2 founder animals. This represents a distinct lack of
genetic diversityGenetic diversity, the level of biodiversity, refers to the total number of genetic characteristics in the genetic makeup of a species. It is distinguished from genetic variability, which describes the tendency of genetic characteristics to vary....
and may not bode well for their continued existence in captivity. The three zoos that house this species are working to ensure that the remaining wild populations of mountain tapirs are protected.
2 mountain tapirs were sent from san francisco zoo to
Cali ZooCali Zoo is located in the city of Cali in the country of Colombia. The Zoo belongs to a foundation that carries its name and whose mission, since it took the Zoo's administration in 1981, has been to improve the animals' diet, their natural environment and the medical care of the existing...
making them be the only captive tapirs in their natural home range, also there is one male kept in Pitalito, huila that was raised and it is possible to move it to the
Cali ZooCali Zoo is located in the city of Cali in the country of Colombia. The Zoo belongs to a foundation that carries its name and whose mission, since it took the Zoo's administration in 1981, has been to improve the animals' diet, their natural environment and the medical care of the existing...
to make a breeding pair and introducing new animals to their habitat.
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