﻿MAMMALS 
  OF 
  NORTHERN 
  COLOMBIA 
  — 
  ^HERSHKOVITZ 
  475 
  

  

  All 
  other 
  specimens 
  of 
  woolly 
  tapirs 
  of 
  which 
  external 
  characters 
  

   are 
  known 
  and 
  recorded 
  or 
  described 
  herein 
  have 
  white 
  ear 
  tips. 
  

  

  In 
  skinning 
  the 
  woolly 
  tapir 
  taken 
  in 
  Colombia, 
  the 
  writer 
  was 
  im- 
  

   pressed 
  by 
  its 
  comparatively 
  thin 
  hide. 
  Hides 
  of 
  the 
  Brazilian, 
  

   Baird's, 
  and 
  Indian 
  tapirs 
  are 
  notoriously 
  thick 
  and 
  range 
  in 
  thickness 
  

   in 
  the 
  order 
  named, 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  last 
  the 
  heaviest. 
  Characteristic 
  extra 
  

   thickness 
  of 
  hide 
  of 
  nape 
  in 
  these 
  species 
  is 
  altogether 
  absent 
  in 
  the 
  

   maneless 
  T. 
  pinchague. 
  The 
  Indian 
  tapir 
  with 
  maximum 
  thickness 
  of 
  

   hide 
  offers 
  a 
  deep 
  armor 
  where 
  most 
  vulnerable 
  to 
  the 
  tiger's 
  fangs. 
  

   Hide 
  of 
  nape 
  combined 
  with 
  mane 
  in 
  Brazilian 
  and 
  Baird's 
  tapirs 
  are 
  

   equally 
  good 
  fenders 
  against 
  the 
  smaller-toothed 
  and 
  weaker-jawed 
  

   jaguar. 
  Mountain 
  fastnesses 
  of 
  the 
  woolly 
  tapir 
  are 
  rarely, 
  if 
  ever, 
  

   visited 
  by 
  jaguars. 
  Mountain 
  Uons 
  {Felis 
  concolor) 
  occur 
  within 
  the 
  

   range 
  of 
  T. 
  pinchague 
  but 
  rarely 
  attack 
  any 
  wild 
  animal 
  larger 
  than 
  

   a 
  brocket 
  (Mazama). 
  Bears 
  {Tremardos 
  omatus) 
  sometimes 
  prey 
  

   on 
  woolly 
  tapirs 
  but 
  their 
  technique 
  of 
  attack, 
  distinct 
  from 
  that 
  of 
  

   cats, 
  gives 
  no 
  special 
  advantage 
  to 
  quarry 
  with 
  a 
  well-protected 
  nape. 
  

  

  Tapirs 
  eat 
  anything 
  edible 
  and 
  a 
  surprisingly 
  large 
  amount 
  of 
  ma- 
  

   terial 
  such 
  as 
  woody 
  twigs 
  and 
  mud, 
  which 
  is 
  not 
  generally 
  regarded 
  

   as 
  edible. 
  However, 
  in 
  any 
  given 
  habitat 
  the 
  bulk 
  of 
  the 
  tapir's 
  diet 
  

   consists 
  of 
  green 
  shoots 
  of 
  the 
  commonest 
  browsing 
  plant. 
  Stomachs 
  

   of 
  woolly 
  tapirs 
  examined 
  by 
  the 
  writer, 
  by 
  Roulin, 
  and 
  by 
  Goudot 
  

   (supra 
  cit.) 
  contained 
  mostly 
  ferns 
  and 
  shoots 
  of 
  "chusque," 
  a 
  trailing 
  

   bamboo 
  of 
  the 
  genus 
  Chusquea. 
  These 
  are 
  the 
  dominant 
  plants 
  in 
  

   many 
  situations 
  of 
  the 
  steeper, 
  more 
  sterile 
  wooded 
  slopes 
  of 
  the 
  

   Andean 
  temperate 
  zone. 
  In 
  "pdramo" 
  zone, 
  according 
  to 
  Goudot 
  

   (p. 
  334), 
  woolly 
  tapirs 
  eat 
  tender 
  shoots 
  of 
  "frailejdn" 
  (Espeletia) 
  as 
  

   well 
  as 
  those 
  of 
  rough 
  grasses. 
  

  

  The 
  word 
  "pinchaque" 
  is, 
  according 
  to 
  Roulin, 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  a 
  large 
  

   fabulous 
  animal 
  believed 
  to 
  live 
  within 
  the 
  Colombian 
  range 
  of 
  the 
  

   woolly 
  tapir. 
  It 
  may 
  refer 
  to 
  the 
  extinct 
  Mastodon 
  but 
  few, 
  if 
  any, 
  

   Colombians 
  now 
  use 
  the 
  term. 
  "Danta" 
  is 
  the 
  name 
  applied 
  indis- 
  

   criminately 
  by 
  natives 
  to 
  all 
  three 
  species 
  of 
  tapirs. 
  The 
  terms 
  woolly 
  

   tapir, 
  mountain 
  tapir, 
  and 
  Andean 
  tapir 
  have 
  been 
  in 
  use 
  in 
  the 
  Eng- 
  

   lish 
  language 
  for 
  over 
  a 
  century. 
  Their 
  Colombian 
  equivalents 
  are 
  

   "danta 
  lanuda" 
  and 
  "danta 
  cordillerana." 
  Ecuadorians 
  of 
  the 
  east- 
  

   em 
  slope 
  of 
  the 
  Cordillera 
  Oriental 
  distinguish 
  the 
  woolly 
  from 
  the 
  

   Brazilian 
  tapir 
  by 
  the 
  names 
  "danta 
  negra" 
  and 
  "danta 
  caf6," 
  respec- 
  

   tively. 
  "Huagra" 
  is 
  the 
  Quechua 
  term 
  for 
  tapir. 
  For 
  lack 
  of 
  another 
  

   word 
  in 
  their 
  vocabulary, 
  Quechua-speaking 
  Indians 
  of 
  Ecuador 
  use 
  

   "huagra" 
  also 
  for 
  domestic 
  cattle. 
  

  

  The 
  first 
  specimen 
  of 
  Tapirus 
  pinchaque 
  to 
  be 
  exhibited 
  alive 
  out- 
  

   side 
  its 
  country 
  of 
  origin 
  is 
  "Panchita," 
  received 
  in 
  the 
  fall 
  of 
  1950 
  

   by 
  the 
  New 
  York 
  Zoological 
  Society's 
  park 
  in 
  the 
  Bronx, 
  New 
  York. 
  

   The_animal, 
  a 
  female, 
  was 
  approximately 
  2% 
  years 
  of 
  age 
  at 
  the 
  time. 
  

  

  