Brazilian Tapir

Zone:
Folly Amazonia

Diet:
Herbivore

Taxa:
Mammal

Conservation Status:
Vulnerable

The South American Tapir, or Brazilian Tapir or Lowland Tapir, is one of four species in the tapir family, along with the Mountain Tapir, the Malayan Tapir, and Baird's Tapir.  It is the largest wild land animal in South America.  It can be found near water in the Amazon Rainforest and River Basin in South America, east of the Andes.  The species are excellent swimmers and divers but also move quickly on land, even over rugged, mountainous terrain.

Creature Feature: Shawn and Sommer

Brazilian Tapirs Shawn and Sommer were united at Folly Zoo in 2004 under an Endangered Species Breeding Programme and are one of Folly Farm's biggest success stories having not only provided the first tapir to be born in Wales, but also the second, third and fourth!  Their daughters Ligea and Yarah and sons Cavalo and Jeremiah now share their enclosure on the Folly Zoo lake which is also home to Capybara and Black Swans...one big happy Folly family!