Me and My Mom - Scene 50

Tapir and Calf

A tapir is a large herbivorous mammal, similar in shape to a pig, with a short, prehensile snout. Tapirs inhabit jungle and forest regions of South America, Central America, and Southeastern Asia. Under good conditions, a healthy female tapir can reproduce every two years; a single youngster, called a calf, is born after a gestation of about 13 months. The natural lifespan of a tapir is approximately 25 to 30 years, both in the wild and in zoos. Apart from mothers and their young offspring, tapirs lead almost exclusively solitary lives. Their closest relatives are the other odd-toed ungulates, including horses and rhinoceroses.