THE TAPIR FAMILY 273 



AMERICAN TAPIR (Tapirus americanus). 

 Plate XXVI. Fig. i. 



This is the commonest and best known of the five South 

 American species. It is found chiefly in the forests of 

 Brazil and neighbouring countries. It is a powerful 

 animal, five feet in length, with a massive body and a 

 thick, muscular neck, which is surmounted by a stiff 

 mane. It leads for the most part a solitary life, amid 

 the gloom of the forest, through which it makes its way, 

 by more or less beaten tracks, to its usual resorts for food 

 and water. Inoffensive and gentle, the Tapir, from its 

 enormous strength and the toughness of its hide, does 

 not fall an easy prey even to the poisoned arrows of the 

 native hunter. By means of the earlier firearms it was 

 impossible to make much impression on its stout cover- 

 ing. When attacked, the first thing the animal does is to 

 rush to the river, clearing a path through the dense under- 

 growth by sheer weight and strength. If followed to the 

 water it plunges in, where it seizes the attacking dogs and 

 inflicts the most dangerous wounds. The jaguar is its chief 

 natural enemy. On land the fierce carnivore finds it 

 difficult to make an impression on the tough hide, and 

 if the Tapir can only contrive to shake off its assailant 

 and reach water, the jaguar not infrequently loses its prey. 

 Tapirs in the neighbourhood of cultivated land work 

 immense damage to sugar-canes and melons, and the 

 cacao-planter in particular often bewails the destruction of 

 his young plantations. In captivity the Tapir will modify 

 its vegetarian diet, becoming practically as omnivorous as 

 the common swine. 



MALAYAN TAPIR (Tapirus indicus). 

 Coloured Plate XVII. Fig. 4. 



The Asiatic Tapir is restricted to a solitary species that is 

 found in the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and Borneo. It is 

 the largest of the group, attaining a height of three and a 

 half feet, and a length of eight feet from the tip of the snout 



