Endangered Species Report: Asian
Tapir (Tapirus indicus)
By Sean O’Keefe
Photo
by: Audrey Jakab http://www.tapirback.com/tapirgal/asian/pix-liv/til0004m.jpg
General Information:
“The
Asian tapir has two common names and one nickname and the two common names are
the Malayan Tapir and the Asian Tapir.”(Thai Wildlife) The nickname is the complete mix because
there are many other animals that it looks like. The animal likes to live
alone, in cool dense forest near water because they are good swimmers and dive
for both feeding and protection against predators. The Asian tapir lives in
these countries
Physical Description:
“The
species name is Tapirus indicus.” They have a long extendable nose that is 20
centimeters and it looks like a ant eats mouth. They are black and white. The
tapir has a weird shape eyes. The Asian Tapir also has many cool features like
three toes on its hind hooves and four hind hooves. The Tapir also has hump on
its back. “They measure up to 2.4 centimeters in length and 1 meter high. Its
tail is about 5-10 centimeters in length and the body weight is 800-900
pounds.”(Thai Wildlife)
Other:
They
can live to about 30 years old. These animals are the largest animals in there
species and they are the only one located in
Breeding habits:
“Mating
occurs throughout the year with a pregnancy of 390-395 days and the mother
carries one baby at a time. The babies wiegh at 6-7 kilograms at birth. The
young stay with its mother until it is well grown, even though the baby may be
independent after six to eight months. The female can mate every two years and
the young are fully mature at 2-3 years old.”(Thai Wildlife)
Feeding habits:
“Tapirs
are herbivores which mean That they are grazers and browsers.”(Malayan Tapir or
the Asian Tapir) Grazers mainly eat
grasses. Browsers mainly eat brush and leaves that are on the ground. They also
eat small twigs and leaves. They mainly eat parts of plants. They don’t have
many enemies except for tigers jaguars and most important humans. They can use
defenses like fight back or run but they usually fight back because they are
not that fast. (Thai Wildlife)
Conservation efforts:
“The
Asian tapir has been classified as venerable by the IUCN (1996).”(Conservation)
There are many protective game laws in the countries that they are located.
They also have laws that you will be seriously punished if you are caught by
the police or anyone. The laws that they have made have been very effective.
They have been given total protection since 1995. It is not known how many
Asian Tapirs there are left but there are 200 in captivity in one specific
national park Sumatra.(conservation)
Summary:
My
teacher choose this animal but this was not a bad choice because I learned a
whole lot. These animals are really cool because they have many features that
make it look like many different animals. They sort of look like and ant eater
but they don’t eat ants. It is really hard to see how people would want to kill
these animals because they are really cool looking. It is really hard to find
these animals, which is sad because they can’t check on the numbers like they
can with other endangered animals.
Sources:
anonymous Thai Society for the Conservation
of Wild Animals anonymous http://www.tscwa.org/wildlife/rare_or_extinct_13.html
anonymous
encyclopedia of Animals
Anonymous Tapirus
indicus
Anonymous
Asian tapir anonymous http://www.arkive.org/species/GES/mammals/Tapirus_indicus/more_info.html
New
standard encyclopedia
Macmillan
Library reference, a Macmillan Illustrated Encyclopedia (Macmillan
library 1999)