Animalia > Chordata > Mammalia > Perissodactyla > Tapiridae > Tapirus > Tapirus bairdii
 

Tapirus bairdii (Baird's tapir; Central American tapir)

Wikipedia Abstract

Baird's tapir (Tapirus bairdii) is a species of tapir that is native to Central America and northern South America. It is one of three Latin American species of tapir.
View Wikipedia Record: Tapirus bairdii

Endangered Species

Status: Endangered
View IUCN Record: Tapirus bairdii

EDGE Analysis

Baird’s tapir is the largest indigenous mammal in Central America. It is a primitive animal that resembles the ancestor of rhinos and horses, and has changed very little in the last 35 million years. Characterised by a long, fleshy nose, like a shortened version of an elephant’s trunk, this shy quiet mammal lives in tropical forests and grasslands and is rarely seen. The species is currently declining as a result of habitat destruction and hunting. Its low reproductive rate makes it even more vulnerable to these threats.
Uniqueness Scale: Similiar (0) 
17
 Unique (100)
Uniqueness & Vulnerability Scale: Similiar & Secure (0) 
75
 Unique & Vulnerable (100)
ED Score: 33.97
EDGE Score: 5.63
View EDGE Record: Tapirus bairdii

Attributes

Adult Weight [1]  661.39 lbs (300.00 kg)
Birth Weight [1]  20.72 lbs (9.40 kg)
Diet [2]  Herbivore
Gestation [1]  1 year 1 month
Litter Size [1]  1
Litters / Year [1]  1
Maximum Longevity [1]  30 years
Nocturnal [2]  Yes

Ecoregions

Name Countries Ecozone Biome Species Report Map Climate Land
Use
Central American Atlantic moist forests Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua Neotropic Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Central American dry forests Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica Neotropic Tropical and Subtropical Dry Broadleaf Forests
Central American montane forests Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua Neotropic Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Central American pine-oak forests Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua Neotropic Tropical and Subtropical Coniferous Forests
Chiapas Depression dry forests Mexico Neotropic Tropical and Subtropical Dry Broadleaf Forests
Chiapas montane forests Mexico Neotropic Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Chimalapas montane forests Mexico Neotropic Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Chocó-Darién moist forests Colombia, Panama Neotropic Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Costa Rican seasonal moist forests Costa Rica Neotropic Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Eastern Panamanian montane forests Colombia, Panama Neotropic Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Isthmian-Atlantic moist forests Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama Neotropic Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests    
Mesoamerican Gulf-Caribbean mangroves Bahamas, United Kingdom Neotropic Mangroves
Northwestern Andean montane forests Colombia, Ecuador Neotropic Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Patía Valley dry forests Colombia Neotropic Tropical and Subtropical Dry Broadleaf Forests
Petén-Veracruz moist forests Mexico, Guatemala, Belize Neotropic Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Sierra Madre de Chiapas moist forest Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador Neotropic Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Talamancan montane forests Costa Rica, Panama Neotropic Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Western Ecuador moist forests Colombia, Ecuador Neotropic Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Yucatán moist forests Mexico, Guatemala, Belize Neotropic Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests

Protected Areas

Name IUCN Category Area acres Location Species Website Map Climate Land Use
Barro Colorado Island Natural Monument III   Panama  
Bladen Branch Nature Reserve Ia 100225 Belize  
Chiquibul Forest Reserve VI 148670 Belize  
Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary IV 122962 Belize
Columbia River Forest Reserve VI 149053 Belize  
Corcovado National Park 115845 Costa Rica  
Cordillera Volcanica Central Forest Reserve VI 150571 Costa Rica  
Cusuco National Park II 44047 Honduras  
El Ocote Ecological Reserve Biosphere Reserve VI 251855 Chiapas, Mexico  
La Amistad International Park National Park II 541617 Panama, Costa Rica  
La Muralla National Park II 36946 Honduras  
La Selva Biological Station Protective Zone VI 6052 Costa Rica
Laguna del Tigre National Park II 718533 Guatemala  
Maya Multiple Use Area 1156412 Guatemala  
Merendón   Honduras        
Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve VI 814711 Chiapas, Mexico  
Parque Nacional Fronterizo Darién National Park II 1382494 Panama  
Patuca National Park II 935848 Honduras  
Pico Bonito National Park II 138952 Honduras    
Rara Avis Rainforest Reserve 3163 Costa Rica
Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve   Honduras        
Reserva de la Biosfera de la Amistad Biosphere Reserve II 493313 Costa Rica  
Reserva de la Biosfera de Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve VI 1312618 Mexico  
Reserva Especial de la Biosphere Sierra de Santa Marta   Mexico        
Rus Rus Biological Reserve   Honduras        
Sarstoon Temash National Park II 42082 Belize  
Shipstern Nature Reserve IV 20453 Belize
Tawahka Anthropological Reserve 626425 Honduras  
Warunta   Honduras        

Biodiversity Hotspots

Name Location Endemic Species Website Map
Mesoamerica Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama No
Tropical Andes Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela No
Tumbes-Choco-Magdalena Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru No

Emblem of

Belize

Prey / Diet

Cassia grandis (Pink Shower)[3]
Enterolobium cyclocarpum (monkeysoap)[3]
Ficus costaricana[4]
Ficus insipida[4]

Prey / Diet Overlap

Competing SpeciesCommon Prey Count
Alouatta palliata (mantled howler monkey)1
Alouatta pigra (Mexican black howler monkey)2
Alouatta seniculus (red howler monkey)1
Amazona albifrons (White-fronted Parrot)2
Amazona auropalliata (Yellow-naped Parrot)2
Amazona finschi (Lilac-crowned Parrot)1
Aratinga canicularis (Orange-fronted Parakeet)1
Artibeus jamaicensis (Jamaican fruit-eating bat)1
Artibeus lituratus (great fruit-eating bat)1
Artibeus obscurus (dark fruit-eating bat)1
Artibeus phaeotis (pygmy fruit-eating bat)1
Ateles belzebuth (white-bellied spider monkey)1
Ateles geoffroyi (Central American spider monkey)1
Bassaricyon gabbii (Olingo)1
Brotogeris jugularis (Orange-chinned Parakeet)2
Brycon guatemalensis (Macabi tetra)1
Carollia brevicauda (silky short-tailed bat)1
Cebus albifrons (white-fronted capuchin)1
Cebus apella (brown capuchin)1
Cebus capucinus (white-faced capuchin)2
Chiroderma villosum (hairy big-eyed bat)1
Crax daubentoni (Yellow-knobbed Curassow)1
Dacnis cayana (Blue Dacnis)1
Dendroica castanea (Bay-breasted Warbler)1
Lagothrix lagotricha (Humboldt's woolly monkey)1
Liomys salvini (Salvin's spiny pocket mouse)1
Nasua narica (White-nosed Coati)1
Nasua nasua (South American Coati)1
Pharomachrus mocinno (Resplendent Quetzal)1
Platyrrhinus helleri (Heller's broad-nosed bat)1
Potos flavus (Kinkajou)2
Rhinoclemmys funerea (Black Wood Turtle)1
Saguinus oedipus (cotton-top tamarin)2
Saimiri sciureus (South American squirrel monkey)1
Sciurus variegatoides (variegated squirrel)2
Tangara inornata (Plain-colored Tanager)1
Tapirus terrestris (South American tapir)1
Uroderma bilobatum (tent-making bat)1
Vampyressa nymphaea (striped yellow-eared bat)1
Vampyrodes caraccioli (great stripe-faced bat)1

Institutions (Zoos, etc.)

    Maps
Institution Infraspecies / Breed 
Africam Safari (Africam, S. A.)
Bergen County Zoological Park
BREC's Baton Rouge Zoo
Brevard Zoo
Guadalajara Zoo
Hattiesburg Zoo
Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens
Lee Richardson Zoo
Los Angeles Zoo & Botanical Gardens
Louisiana Purchase Gardens & Zoo
Mesker Park Zoo
Miami Metrozoo
Milwaukee County Zoological Gardens
Nashville Zoo at Grassmere
Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo
Palm Beach Zoo at Dreher Park
Reid Park Zoo
San Diego Zoo
San Francisco Zoological Gardens
Sedgwick County Zoo
White Oak Conservation Center
Yokohama Zool. Gardens
Zoo New England, Franklin Park Zoo
Zoologico Nacional La Aurora
Zoologico Nacional Simon Bolivar
Zoologischer Garten Wuppertal

Range Map

Link to Map
Middle America; Patfa Valley dry forests; South America;

External References

Photos

Citations

Species recognized by Grubb P., 22-Apr-2004, ITIS Global: The Integrated Taxonomic Information System in Catalog of Life 2011
Endangered Status provided by IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2 <www.iucnredlist.org> Downloaded on 11 April 2013.
Attributes / relations provided by ♦ 1de Magalhaes, J. P., and Costa, J. (2009) A database of vertebrate longevity records and their relation to other life-history traits. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 22(8):1770-1774 ♦ 2Myers, P., R. Espinosa, C. S. Parr, T. Jones, G. S. Hammond, and T. A. Dewey. 2006. The Animal Diversity Web (online). Accessed February 01, 2010 at animaldiversity.org ♦ 3Diet of the lowland tapir (Tapirus terrestris) in the Tabaro River valley, southern Venezuela, Leonardo A. Salas and Todd K. Fuller, Can. J. Zool. 74: 1444-1451 (1996) ♦ 4"Fig-eating by vertebrate frugivores: a global review", MIKE SHANAHAN, SAMSON SO, STEPHEN G. COMPTON and RICHARD CORLETT, Biol. Rev. (2001), 76, pp. 529–572
Ecoregions provided by World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF). WildFinder: Online database of species distributions, ver. 01.06 gis.wwfus.org/wildfinder
Protected Areas provided by Biological Inventories of the World's Protected Areas in cooperation between the Information Center for the Environment at the University of California, Davis and numerous collaborators.
Biodiversity Hotspots provided by Biodiversity Hotspots, Conservation International
Images provided by Wikimedia Commons licensed under a Creative Commons License
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
EDGE analysis provided by EDGE of Existence programme, Zoological Society of London
Range map provided by Patterson, B. D., G. Ceballos, W. Sechrest, M. F. Tognelli, T. Brooks, L. Luna, P. Ortega, I. Salazar, and B. E. Young. 2007. Digital Distribution Maps of the Mammals of the Western Hemisphere, version 3.0. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia, USA.
Data provided by NatureServe in collaboration with Bruce Patterson, Wes Sechrest, Marcelo Tognelli, Gerardo Ceballos, The Nature Conservancy—Migratory Bird Program, Conservation International—CABS, World Wildlife Fund—US, and Environment Canada—WILDSPACE.
Weather provided by NOAA METAR Data Access
Institution information provided by International Species Information System - May 2011