TAPIR

     A tapir is an unusual animal. It has a large head, and a very large nose. Tapirs can not see well, but they have a very good sense of smell. A tapir has three toes on its back feet, and four toes on its front feet. The feet help the tapir walk around on muddy ground and swim. Tapirs have rough, brown skin and can grow to be around 400 pounds and 6 feet long!

     Tapirs live in the rainforests of South America and Central America. Within the rainforests, tapirs live on the forest floor, which is the lowest part of the forest. Tapirs sleep during the day, and stay up at night. They usually eat leaves and berries. Tapirs can eat up to 85 pounds of food in just one day!!! Tapirs love to swim around in pools of water. They do this to stay cool. Tapirs also like to walk
underwater! Tapirs are now endangered. This means that there are not many of them left in the rainforests. Hunters are killing off these animals for their meat.

Here is a video of a tapir:

http://www.belizezoo.org/zoo/zoo/mammals/tap/tap3.html