Forests, grassland, and wetlands of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, Burma, Thailand, and Malaysia.About me
I can live to the human equivalent of a quarter-life crisis (25-30 years), but few of us have that chance these days. My Tapir friends and I are endangered because humans are eating junk food made with Conflict Palm Oil that is causing our rainforest home to be destroyed.
The center of my universe is the watering hole, and I follow the footsteps and tunnel-like path I’ve worn through the brush with other tapirs. Why? It’s hot! I like to play it cooler by the watering hole, and use my elephant-like short trunk — that’s also my upper lip btw — to eat my favorite herbivore diet staples: grass, vegetation, and fruit.
Did you know?
That we have black and white stripes and spots as babies? Like a baby zebra mixed with a baby rhino, but make it Tapir.
That we’re the largest of the five tapir species, and the only one native to Asia?
That we might look like pigs with a weird nose, but we’re actually related to rhinos and horses? In Indonesia, they call us “batak” even, which means “rhino”.
That we might look a bit dense and heavy, but we’re actually great swimmers? Don’t judge a book by its cover, this book knows its way around a watering hole.