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 Wildlife
Believe it or not, there are some animals we know little about! Like the tapir, a 600-pound, nocturnal, solitary, herbivore (plant eater).
The tapir is the largest land mammal in Central America. It lives deep in the jungles of Central and South America.
A team of biologists and veterinarians got together in Costa Rica to learn more about this animal, so they put radiocollars on them, to study them from far away.
Dr. Sonia Hernandez-Divers was the head veterinarian for the team. She helped biologists anesthetize these large animals to put radiocollars on them.
She used a dart gun to dart them from platforms built on trees. Once they were asleep, she took samples to find out what diseases they had. They learned that tapirs can get diseases from horses and cows that live on farms at the edge of the jungle. |
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The team also discovered that Tapirs love to sleep in the mud all day! When they are awake (mostly at night) they eat leaves and stems.
Tapirs live near rivers or streams. They love the water and are very agile swimmers. |
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