What do tapirs eat in the wild?
Tapirs eat a variety of seasonal fruits and plants and their home ranges (2-5 kilometers square) reflect the seasonal food growth patterns of the forest. When mango or fig trees come into season, tapirs can often be found underneath these trees, eating the fruits that fall from them, or are dropped by monkeys munching on fruit from above. Tapirs also eat a lot of different fruits of palm trees (especially tapirs living in low lands) and they visit salt licks to complement their diet. A salt lick is a naturally occurring salt deposit that animals visit periodically to supplement their diet with minerals such as sodium, calcium, phosphorus and iron.
