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- Mountain Tapir
Mountain Tapir
Perissodactyla, Tapiridae
Tapirus Pinchaque
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The Mountain Tapir lives, as the name implies, high in the mountains. But their numbers have diminished because farmers have extended the grasslands for domesticated livestock into the mountains.
Body length: 180cm
Weight: 225 to 250kg
(Source: Doubutsu Sekai-isan* Red Data Animals Kodansha) (*World Animal Heritage)
Mountain Tapirs live in the South American mountains of Columbia, Ecuador, and Peru.
The Mountain Tapir eats plant leaves, sprouts, and fresh branches.
The Mountain Tapir is nocturnal, moving during daybreak and nightfall. In the afternoon, they hide in the bushes.
Find out more about the Mountain Tapir!
Arrival of domesticated livestock to the mountains causes 2,500 Mountain Tapirs to vanish...
Of the four types of Tapirs in the world, the Mountain Tapir is the smallest. As its name implies, the Mountain Tapir lives high in the mountains at altitudes of 2,000 to 4,400 meters above sea level. Since the 1930's, farmers began expanding the grasslands for their livestock into the mountain ranges where the Mountain Tapir lived. Constantly being deprived of a safe place to live, the Mountain Tapir's numbers are now said to be below 2,500.
Hunting and mineral mining plans present new threats!
The Mountain Tapir has always been prey to food and game hunting. And now, there are plans to begin mining their mountains for minerals, further destroying the homes of Mountain Tapirs. Because Mountain Tapirs continue to vanish even today, increased measures must be taken to expand the protected area. Otherwise, they will become extinct in the very near future.
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