ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lucy Cooke is a broadcaster and zoologist, and writes the regular column Female of the Species for BBC Wildlife (flick back to page 27). She is the author of Bitch: A Revolutionary Guide to Sex, Evolution and the Female Animal (Doubleday, £20).
CONSERVATION heroes come in all shapes and sizes, but none as mysterious as the tapir. Latin America's largest native land mammal is a peculiar-looking beast that swims like a hippopotamus and climbs like a goat. It also eats like an elephant, using an elongated prehensile snout to pluck the tastiest fruit and leaves and deliver them into a decidedly equine mouth.
The tapir appears to have been cobbled together from an eclectic assortment of random beasts. The overall effect is quite prehistoric, which is fitting: the tapir hasn't really changed in more than 35 million years, earning it the title of living fossil. Its closest living relative is the rhinoceros. The tapir shares a profoundly shy nature with its distant cousin, which has ensured this jungle giant's secrets have been well-kept - until now. Research is revealing surprising insights into the tapir's private life, including its unlikely role as a four-footed eco-warrior with a smelly secret weapon.
I've always loved odd animals and frankly they don't get much odder than the tapir. So when I got the chance to travel to Costa Rica in late 2021 and hang out with local conservation biologist Esteban Brenes-Mora, AKA "the tapir guy", I jumped at the chance.
Denne historien er fra April 2022-utgaven av BBC Wildlife.
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Denne historien er fra April 2022-utgaven av BBC Wildlife.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
SNAP-CHAT
Justin Gilligan on giant spider crabs and holding hands with an octopus
STEPPE CHANGE
Herds of saiga have returned to Kazakhstan, but there's a fine balance to tread
TREES FOR LIFE
Community is at the heart of conservation in the tropical forests of southern Belize
WHEN DOVES CRY
Turtle doves are now the UK's fastest declining bird species, but the RSPB is on a mission to save them
SURVIVAL OF THE CUTEST
We can't help being drawn to cute creatures, but our aesthetic preferences both help and hinder conservation
LIGHT ON THE NORTH
Spectacular images of Arctic foxes, reindeer and musk oxen reveal the wild beauty and diversity of Scandinavia
ROLLING IN THE DEEP
The super-sized crustacean that lives in the deepest, darkest ocean
LET'S GET TOGETHER
Clay licks deep in the Amazon explode in a riot of colour, with macaws the stars of the show
FEMALE OF THE SPECIES
To sponge or not to sponge? That is the question for the bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) living in Shark Bay, Western Australia.
7 nature encounters for the month ahead
WITH NATURALIST AND AUTHOR BEN HOARE
