The Baird's Tapir (or Tapirus bairdii) is an Endangered species with only 5.500 animals left in the wilds of Central America. The main threat consists of deforestation destroying their woodland habitats. And while conservationists are hard at work on protecting the woodlands and rainforests of Central America, sadly, a second threat to the existence of the Baird's Tapir is maybe even more persistent. Despite laws making it illegal to hunt for tapirs in Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Panama, those laws are rarely enforced.
While similar to elephants in the fact that tapirs love to swim, and use their prehensile snouts as snorkels similar to how elephants use their trunks, their closest evolutionary relative is a rhino. While their size is insignificant compared to the elephant and the rhino (tapirs measure around a meter tall at the shoulder), they are the largest land mammal in Central America.
The feeding habits of tapirs are of huge importance for the environment in general. Their varied diet and wide-ranging foraging behaviours make them some of the most important seed-dispensers of the rainforests of Central America.
Fun fact: a group of tapirs is known as a 'candle'.
