The national animal of Belize is the Baird’s tapir. This mammal is the largest land mammal in the American tropics and is instantly recognizable by its prehensile snout rather like a short elephant’s trunk. They are about the size of a small donkey and can weigh as much as 600 pounds.
The tapir is an unusual looking animal in lots of ways and this has made it very iconic.
They are peaceful denizens of rainforests and wetland areas and are also sometimes referred to as the mountain cow.
They are rarer today than they once were but still a not uncommon sight in the right areas.
Let’s find out more.
What is the national animal of Belize?
The national animal of Belize is the Baird’s tapir.
This is a species of tapir native to Central and South America, found in Mexico, many other parts of Central America, and northwestern South America.
They are the largest of the species of tapir native to South America, as well as being the largest land mammal in Central and South America.
They were named after Spencer Fullerton Baird, an American naturalist who observed the animals in Mexico in 1843.
They are commonly called danta by local people.
They are found in many different habitats.
They can withstand high elevations from sea level, as high as almost 12,000 feet.
They are often found in wet areas like marshes and swamps, as well as mangrove forests.
They are also found in tropical rainforests, particularly during the wet season.
At the same time, they can also be found in drier woodlands and deciduous forests, and even cloud forests.
They prefer secondary-growth forests as these have a greater volume of understory plants.
They have a clear cream-colored marking on their faces as well as on their throats and the tips of their ears.
The rest of their hair is dark or greyish brown.
They are very muscular, being almost the size of a small donkey.
They average about 6.6 feet in length, though they can be as long as 8.2 feet.
They are around 2.4 to 3.9 feet tall at the shoulders.
They can range a lot in body mass, anywhere from 330 to 660 pounds.
Doubtless, their most notable and iconic feature is their snout and upper lips, which project forwards to form a flexible proboscis.
This is their strongest sense organ which helps them find food and physical stimuli.
They have short legs which are well adapted to quick bursts of movement through the underbrush.
Why is the tapir the national animal of Belize?
The tapir is an important symbol in Belize for a number of reasons.
They are seen as embodiments of the country’s natural beauty and the importance of the kinds of environments that it lives into the country as a whole, like the tropical rainforests.
They are seen as symbols of courage and curiosity and their unusual physical appearance has been very endearing to the people of Belize.
There is, though, also a question of conservation.
The Baird’s tapir is an endangered species, and they are under threat of extinction for many different reasons. Illegal hunting and the destruction of their habitat are among the clearest threats that face them.
Drastic action will certainly need to be taken in order to preserve this species into the future.
One way that you can help to achieve this goal is through awareness, and this is often an influencing factor in making an animal a country’s national, official animal.
This, then, is another reason Baird’s tapir is important to Belize.
It is under threat and by making it the national animal more people will become aware of its plight.
Is a tapir an anteater?
A tapir is not an anteater.
They are evolutionarily distinct, and indeed they are somewhat primitive animals that have remained largely unchanged for several million years.
They are more closely related to horses and rhinos, and their snout is an example of convergent evolution.
They are not that closely related to elephants, but their snout achieves largely the same things as an elephant’s trunk.
Anteaters are an entirely separate evolutionary offshoot, though the two species do live in the same parts of the world.
They are both found in South America, but they are not the same.
What is the bite force of a tapir?
The bite force of a tapir is estimated to be around 200 to 400 pounds, depending on the kind of tapir in question.
They have a very strong bite, then, and they are capable of eating very tough plant matter of various kinds.
Their bites can help them survive on tougher material when times are harder and there is less to get them by, as they mostly eat leaves, grasses, fruits and berries.
They will, though, eat a large range of browse and can also eat twigs and shrubs.
Again, the powerful bite helps them extract more food at a time as well as helping them to grind it up for easier digestion.
Tapir, then, are exceptional creatures for many different reasons.
They are unique and beautiful and evoke considerable emotions in most people that see them.
The Baird’s tapir in particular is under threat for many different reasons and this, among others, is an important reason why Belize has chosen them as the national animal.
We can hope that their fortunes turn in the near future with conservation efforts like these.