Yet, in the Americas and Asia, the tapir stands out as a strange-looking, trunked creature that demands attention. There are four species of tapir: the lowland, Baird's, mountain, and Malaysian tapir.

Growing up to 700 pounds, the South American tapir, or lowland tapir, is a vital member of rainforest ecosystems. These cartoonish critters become known as “forest gardeners” due to their ...

It’s a girl! Point Defiance Zoo recently welcomed a rare and endangered Malayan tapir calf. Her name is Ume, which means plum blossom and apricot in Japanese. The zoo says her keeper staff chose ...

Tapirs are decidedly cool creatures, so learning of various conservation threats to them is vexing. As the Tapir Specialist Group notes, “Because of their enormous size and large range, ...

Camera trap photo of a tapir and a domestic dog in southern Mexico. Researchers have documented conflict between between a tapir and a dog in Mexico, highlighting the impact of encroaching human ...

Banner image: A tapir amid a harvested cornfield in northern Mato Grosso, west-central Brazil, in a transition area between the Cerrado and the Amazon. Image by Victor Sanches, courtesy of INCAB/IPÊ.

A “fuzzy watermelon”-looking animal in Washington is winning over the hearts of people on social media. Ume is a white striped and speckled Malayan tapir calf that was born Feb. 2 at the Point ...

With their drooping noses, rotund bodies and vegetarian diets, tapirs are quite a sight. These elusive hoofed mammals are widely considered to be calm and gentle, naturally inclined to run and ...

A Washington zoo is saying goodbye to its last Malayan tapir before she moves to a new home in California, officials said. Ulan, the “prehistoric-looking” mammal, came to the Woodland Park Zoo ...