tapir behavior- an examination of activity patterns, mother young ...

vegetation and swamp forests (Dudgeon, 2000a; Dudgeon, 2000b). However, Williams
(1978) found the behavior of a radio-tracked individual to be random.
Tapirs rest in dense underbrush (Eisenberg et al., 1990), small hollows, level
ground, high ridge tops, spurs, and open areas often choosing a site near water (Williams,
1978). Resting spots are sometimes used several times (Williams, 1978).
Diet
The Malay tapir is a forest herbivore. MacKinnon (in Santiapillai and Ramono
1990) refers to the tapir as a wasteful feeder. The selective browsing and grazing nature
and suggests that tapirs select high quality food when available (Medway, 1974;
Mendoza et al., 2002; Olmos, 1997; Santiapillai and Ramono, 1990; Williams and
Petrides, 1980). The proboscis is ideal for browsing on green shoots allowing it to pluck
leaves from branches and place them into its mouth (Barongi, 1993; Santiapillai and
Ramono, 1990). The tapir wanders through the forest in a zigzag fashion feeding on a
few leaves from one plant then moves on to another, and often travels great distances
while feeding (Sandborn and Watkins, 1950). The tapir is an unspecialized feeder;
however, its selective nature translates into broad habitat requirements (Santiapillai and
Ramono 1990).
In captivity tapirs consume 4-5% of their body weight daily; although pregnant or
lactating females consume slightly more (Barongi, 1993). The Malay tapir weighs
between 250-450kg (Barongi, 1993; Eisenberg et al., 1990), so it needs at least 10-22.5kg
of food/day in the wild.
Tapirs ate leaves, buds, growing twigs, bark, herbs, low growing succulents,
fruits, club moss, grasses, and aquatic vegetation (Khan, 1997; Santiapillai and Ramono,
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