One of Rainforest’s Most Secretive Creatures Spotted on Camera Trap

One of the secrets of the rainforest caught on camera!

Tapirs are relatives of horses, donkeys, zebras and rhinoceros and they call the jungles of South America, Central America and Southeastern Asia home.

Due to their nocturnal and shy nature, relatively little is known about these fascinating creatures. Most grow to be almost seven feet long and weigh 700 pounds.

While they do live on dry land, they often spend time in the water to stay away from their land-dwelling predators.

Talented muti-taskers, during their time in the water tapirs have been known to submerge themselves, eat soft vegetation and let small fish eat parasites off of them.

Adding to its mysterious nature, most species of tapirs are nocturnal, making them even more challenging to study.

These elusive animals are large enough to have few natural predators. And for any predator that chances attacking this creature, its thick skin on the back of its neck does its part to protect it from jaguars, crocodiles anacondas and tigers.

But the biggest threat to the conservation of tapirs is habitat loss and being hunted by humans for its meat and pelts. Several species of tapirs are on the conservation watch list and the Baird’s tapir and the mountain tapir are listed as endangered.

In another sighting captured in the video below witness a tapir roaming through the rain forest with a necklace on.