What fruits do tapirs eat?
Tapirs are known to look for and eat a diverse array of fruits (Table 1.1). Fruits eaten by tapirs range from small, soft figs and berries 1-3cm in diameter to the 5-12 cm diameter fruits of the gourd tree Crescentia alata, the general impression being that tapirs are opportunistic, eating most fruit which are readily accessible, but still looking for concentrations of favored fruit (Bodmer 1990b, Downer 1996). Sweet-tasting and/or smelling fruit seem to be preferred both in captivity (Janzen 1982a) and in the wild (Janzen 1982b, Williams 1984, Bodmer 1991, Downer 1996), but bitter-tasting fruits like the wild nutmeg Virola oleifera, the laurel Ocotea catharinensis (adapted to dispersal by birds), or the legume Sweetia fruticosa (a wind-dispersed species) are also eaten in large amounts by lowland tapirs when available (Rodrigues et al. 1993, P. Martuscelli pers. comm., Brisola 1989). Also, hundreds of the astringent acorns of the guanacaste oak Quercus oleoides may be eaten in a singl
