Tapir
Tapirus ferrestris

In August of 2023 I took a trip to Brazil with Jeff Parker Tours.  Our primary purpose was to look for Harpy Eagles and Jaguar.  Our search was successful, and throughout the trip we saw and photographed other animals and birds.  One of the most unusual was the Tapir. 

Tapirs are large mammals that look like wild hogs with anteater snouts. In reality, tapirs are neither, and they are most closely related to horses and rhinos.  The word “tapir” comes from an indigenous Brazilian language; it means “thick,” referring to the animal’s hide. They are about the size of a donkey. They have round bodies, short legs and stubby tails, sort of like a hippo. Their eyes and ears are small. They have four toes on each front foot and three toes on each back foot.  Their most distinctive feature is their snout. It is flexible like an elephant’s trunk. However, the tapir’s trunk is actually its upper lip and nose. Tapirs can grab things with their trunks, somewhat like an elephant. They use them to pluck leaves and fruit out of trees, and then place them in their mouths. And, when threatened, tapirs will submerge themselves in a river and use their snouts like a snorkel.  Most tapirs live in South America, from southern Mexico to Venezuela, Brazil and Paraguay.  Tapirs are the most primitive large mammals in the world.  They’ve been around for 20 million years and have changed very little.

During my trip to Brazil, I saw Tapir at several locations, usually at watering holes at the Lodges we stayed at.  My favorite photos are of a Tapir we saw on the late afternoon of August 29, 2023 at a watering hole at Fazenda Pouso Alegre.  To see my blog that includes our activities on that day, look here.  Below are a few of the photos I took of the Tapir that afternoon.