The Man-eating Tapir?

By: Joseph Wells

The Brazilian tapir is the largest terrestrial animal in the Peruvian rainforest. It is the smallest type of tapir and lives in the forests of South America east of the Andes and north of Argentina. Some Brazilian tapir males have been weighed in at over 660 pounds. According to The New Larousse Encyclopedia of Animal Life, “the Brazilian tapir stands a meter at the shoulder and is two meters in length. It looks at first glance like an enormous pig” (587). The adult Brazilian tapir is solid brown in color with short velvety fur. The animal has a short and stocky body with short legs and a strong neck. It is easily understood why people think that tapirs are related to pigs due to appearance alone.
While the tapir may resemble a pig or hippopotamus in body stature, it is actually related to the horse and rhinoceros. All three of these creatures are in the Order Perissodactyla. This order is composed of the ungulates, or hoofed animals, with an odd number of toes on at least some of the feet (Pearson 219). The front feet of the tapir have four toes and the back feet have three toes. The pig and hippopotamus are members of the Order Artiodactyla, or even-toed ungulates (Burton 589).
Perhaps the most unique feature of the tapir though is its nose which resembles a short elephant’s trunk. Both elephants and tapirs use their noses for a similar purpose, which is to reach foliage and leaves for feeding. The tapir has the traditional diet of an herbivore. According to The World Book Encyclopedia, “tapirs feed on the twigs and foliage of trees and shrubs, and on fruit and other vegetable food” (41). The tapir’s snout not only allows the tapir to collect food to eat, but also helps prevent the tapir from being eaten. The snout of the tapir allows the animal an excellent sense of smell. This trait along with excellent hearing serves as a warning for the presence of potential predators. A weakness of the tapir is its eyesight, which is fairly poor (Pearson 219).
However, strong eyesight is not a necessity for the animal, due to its nocturnal nature. The tapir is known as being very gentle and timid. During the day the tapir remains in very dense areas to hide from potential predators. At night the tapir enters its most comfortable habitat – the water areas. The tapir bases many functions of its life around marshes and other watery places. According to Celso Hidalgo Riz, a guide for Explorama tour group and native of the Peruvian rainforest, the tapir is most commonly seen by humans while the animal is swimming. Tapirs love to swim and use the water to bathe and also swim in the water for defecation purposes. The New Larousse Encyclopedia of Animal Life says “Tapirs spend the day in the densest thickets, only coming out in the evening to bathe and forage in rivers and marshes. The crust of mud with which they are commonly coated is a protection against insect bites” (587).
Typically the water areas are also communal areas for the tapirs. The tapir lives mostly alone, but shares some common areas with other tapirs. There are traditional trails and marshes that all tapirs of one area use together. The Ecotraveller’s Wildlife Guide of Peru states that “Although generally solitary, tapirs by using these habitual trails and wallowing areas together with communal defecation sites, at least loosely associate and communicate with each other. They are shy and retiring, and except for grunts of alarm and high whistles during the mating season, are quiet” (220).
Breeding and the care of offspring are the only times in which tapirs are not living solitarily. Tapirs are only together as mates for a couple of weeks and males then leave the female. Females have gestation periods of 13 months and usually bear only one offspring, but it is not impossible to bear two calves. The young have a different appearance than that of the adults. The adults are a solid dark brown, while the young tapirs are a light brown with horizontal stripes and spots. Calves remain with the mothers alone for around a year. According to The Ecotraveller’s Wildlife Guide of Peru, “This long gestation period and extended care of the young mean a female can reproduce only every 17 months” (220).
While adult and baby tapirs alike may seem cute and harmless, humans still need to beware. These herbivores have strong teeth and are not afraid to use them. Our Explorama guide, Celso Riz told of stories he has heard of people being attacked by tapirs. These usually gentle and docile creatures are quick to defend themselves when they feel threatened. Tapirs have even killed people by using their great weight and strong teeth. On our trip to Peru we experienced the wrath of a tapir named Nancy who found it enjoyable to nibble on a couple of our students.

Works Cited

Burton, Maurice, ed. The New Larousse Encyclopedia of Animal Life. Hong Kong:
Hamlyn, 1989.

Pearson, David and Les Beletsky. The Ecotraveller’s Wildlife Guide of Peru. London:
Academic Press, 2001.

Riz, Celso Hidalgo. Personal Interview. 8 Jan 2003.

Taylor, Richard. “Tapir.” The World Book Encyclopedia. 1990 ed.

Chirping Tamarins

By: Joseph Wells

Life in the Amazon lowlands of Peru is very different from that of the rest of the world. Animals of the lowlands act extremely different as well. There are small fish with bone crushing teeth, capybaras which roll over like dogs, tapirs which are herbivores yet like to nibble on people and maybe the strangest, monkeys that chirp like birds. Walking through the rainforest of Peru one is bound to hear hundreds of different bird calls. There is one distinct chirp and twitter in the Amazon lowlands which is perhaps the most distinct bird call, yet it is a monkey-call. The tamarins of Peru are “restricted to the lowlands of the Amazon. All travel in noisy troops giving chirps and twitters that sound more bird-like than primate-like” (Pearson 200). So what does a monkey that sounds like a bird look like and act like?

The tamarin is very small with a long tail. According to The Ecotraveller’s Wildlife Guide of Peru the tamarins’ tails “are NOT prehensile” (199). A prehensile tail can be used to hold on to objects. The tamarin seems to have a “nonworking” tail, because the tail does not have grasping abilities like tails of other primates. Another unique feature of the animal is that its feet have claws instead of nails. The World Book Encyclopedia describes the tamarin as “a type of small monkey that lives in tropical rain forests in Central and South America. It is closely related to, but slightly larger than, the marmoset. Tamarins grow up to 12 inches long…The animals weigh up to 2 pounds” (21). In fact, this monkey is so small that hunters seldom waste the effort and expense of shells to hunt the animal (Pearson 200).

There are only six species of tamarin in Peru. The Audubon Society Encyclopedia of Animal Life, describes two species of tamarin in the area. “(The black tamarin) is a naked-eared, beetle-browed, low-crowned form with a black face. In north-west Amazonia dwell a large assemblage of similar animals but which have weird facial markings and one of which, Tamarinus imperator, sports immense, white handlebar moustaches” (38). When viewing a small black colored tamarin from far away, it is quite difficult for an untrained eye to know exactly what species of tamarin one is viewing, but somehow the guides are always able to tell where the tamarins are and exactly to what species they belong.

There are several commonalities among all tamarin species. All tamarins, according to The New Larousse Encyclopedia of Animal Life “are expert climbers and can drop long distances without harm. One was observed to fall at least fifteen meters, and alight on its feet. The tamarins, which have no ear tufts or tail rings, live on fruit, eggs and insects” (506). Tamarins have also been known to eat some birds and lizards.

Another similarity between the different species of tamarins involves breeding. Typically tamarins birth twins and the males are the ones that actually care for and carry the young monkeys (Pearson 199). Most tamarins are monogamous with the exception of the saddle-backed tamarin in which one female mates with two males (Pearson 203). This behavior still has scientists extremely amazed.

The tamarin is a very cute and active monkey. They are extremely social animals living in groups of up to 40 members (Mast 22). They were the only monkeys not skittish enough to run away from the loud group of Americans trouncing through the rainforest. We were able to follow and watch these majestic chirping creatures move around in their Amazonian habitat for several minutes. The tamarins also came and watched us in our “natural habitat” while we were relaxing at the Ceiba Top Resort.

Works Cited

Burton, Maurice, ed. The New Larousse Encyclopedia of Animal Life. Hong Kong:
Hamlyn, 1989.

Farrand, John jr., ed. The Audubon Society Encyclopedia of Animal Life. New York:
Portland House, 1988.

Mast, Roderic. “Tamarin.” The World Book Encyclopedia. 1990 ed.

Pearson, David and Les Beletsky. The Ecotraveller’s Wildlife Guide of Peru. London:
Academic Press, 2001.