The natural world. Looking pretty for 3.5b years.

The Tapir and How To Save It

Author: Hugh Bollinger/Friday, December 11, 2015/Categories: natural history, wildlife conservation, video, sustainability, environment

Brazilian Tapir in Habitat (credit: Wikicommons)

The tapir is an ancient animal whose closest relatives are horses, donkeys, and zebras. They have lived in tropical forests since the Eocene, over 50 million years ago. Habitat destruction, bushmeat poaching, and hunting for skins has resulted in 4 of the 5 extant species being listed by the Convention on Threatened and Endangered Species (CITES). Conservation of tapirs is environmentally important as the animals represent what are called an “umbrella species”, an animal or plant with large habitat requirements which, if given sufficient protected area, will bring many other species along under its protection.

A recent presentation at TED offered a perspective on the ways to help this cool animal's conservation:

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Tags: wildlife conservation endangered species deforestation tapir