Tapirs are herbivores that eat a wide variety of leaves, fruits, twigs, bark, and stems. Researchers have documented over 460 plant species in the lowland tapir’s diet alone, and Baird’s tapir may eat even more. These stocky, pig-shaped animals are essentially forest browsers, using their flexible snouts to grab vegetation as they move along well-worn trails through dense jungle.
Leaves, Fruits, and Stems
The bulk of a tapir’s diet comes from three categories: leaves, fruits, and fibrous stems. A major study in French Guiana identified 112 plant species eaten by lowland tapirs, spread across 50 plant families. Of those, 70 species were eaten as leaves, 42 as fruits, and some as both. Tapirs tend to bite off the terminal leaves and twigs of tree seedlings, saplings, herbs, and shrubs, sometimes snapping small plants in half to reach what they want.
Certain plant families show up consistently across tapir habitats. Melastomataceae, Rubiaceae, and Sapotaceae are among the most commonly eaten. A few genera appear so reliably in tapir diets across South America that indigenous communities have named them after the animal. The Wayãpi people of French Guiana call one plant “tapi’i ka’a,” meaning “tapir plant,” because tapirs browse its large leaves so heavily. Other plants carry names that translate to “tapir tree” in local languages.
Among fruits, tapirs favor large, juicy, fragrant options. Wild plums (Spondias mombin), figs (Ficus species), and several tropical fruits with fleshy pulp are consistently found in tapir dung across study sites. This preference for big, aromatic fruits makes tapirs important seed dispersers. Seeds pass through their digestive system intact and get deposited far from the parent tree.
How Diet Shifts With the Seasons
Tapirs are opportunistic feeders, and what they eat changes depending on what’s available. In Amazon forests, fruit eating peaks during fruit-rich seasons, while leaves and stems fill the gap during leaner months. In Brazilian savannas, the pattern flips slightly: tapirs browse primarily on leaves and stems but increase their fruit intake during the dry season, when certain species produce their most abundant crops.
This flexibility is key to their survival. Rather than specializing in one food type, tapirs adjust their diet across the year, switching between being primarily leaf eaters and primarily fruit eaters depending on local conditions.
Differences Between Tapir Species
Four living tapir species exist, spread across Central America, South America, and Southeast Asia. Their diets overlap in broad strokes but differ based on habitat.
Baird’s tapir, found from Mexico through Central America, lives in everything from dry tropical forests to mountain cloud forests. Its diet includes five recorded food categories: bark, stems, flowers, fruits, and leaves. Stems, leaves, and fruits are the most common, while bark and flowers appear less frequently. The total number of plant species documented in its diet now exceeds earlier estimates of 100 to 150 species and may surpass the known lists for other tapir species.
The lowland tapir of South America has the most studied diet, with roughly 460 documented food plant species. It inhabits a huge range of environments, from dense rainforest to open savanna, and its diet reflects that diversity. The Malayan tapir, the only Asian species, feeds on an estimated 380 plant species in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. The mountain tapir, which lives at high elevations in the Andes, browses on tougher, high-altitude vegetation, though its diet is less thoroughly documented than the other species.
Salt Licks and Mineral Supplements
Tapirs regularly visit natural salt licks, patches of mineral-rich soil or water scattered through their forest habitats. The primary draw is sodium, which is the most important extracellular mineral in vertebrate physiology and often scarce in a plant-based diet. Salt lick water and soil also contain calcium, magnesium, potassium, zinc, and iron in higher concentrations than ordinary water sources.
These visits aren’t casual. Mineral deficiencies and imbalances can affect a wild animal’s fertility, reproduction, and overall health. Salt licks provide the highest mineral benefit for the lowest foraging effort, which explains why tapirs and other large mammals return to them repeatedly. Some salt licks in the Amazon and Southeast Asia attract dozens of species, with tapirs among the most frequent visitors.
How Tapirs Eat
A tapir’s most distinctive feature is its short, prehensile trunk, a flexible extension of the nose and upper lip. This isn’t just for show. Tapirs use it to grab leaves, strip twigs, and pull vegetation toward their mouths while foraging, functioning something like a miniature elephant trunk. It lets them reach into dense brush and selectively pluck the parts they want.
Internally, tapirs are hindgut fermenters, meaning they break down plant fiber in their large intestine and cecum rather than in a multi-chambered stomach like cows. This system is similar to what horses and rhinoceroses use, though tapirs are less efficient at it. Compared to horses, tapirs struggle more with high-fiber diets, likely because their chewing isn’t as thorough. Their digestive system is better suited to softer browse (leaves and young shoots) than to tough grasses, which aligns with what they choose in the wild.
Tapir Diets in Zoos
Captive tapirs eat a simplified version of their wild diet. The Tapir Specialist Group recommends splitting a zoo tapir’s food into roughly equal thirds: one-third legume hay (like alfalfa), one-third nutritionally complete herbivore pellets, and one-third fresh produce or harvested browse plants. This combination tries to replicate the fiber content and nutritional balance of a wild diet.
Getting this right matters more than it might seem. Research on zoo tapirs shows that their digestive systems are more sensitive to dietary fiber levels than those of horses or rhinos. Organic matter digestibility drops more steeply in tapirs as fiber increases. Because of this, zoo nutrition guidelines emphasize providing readily digestible roughage, especially fresh browse, to better mimic the soft leaves and young shoots that make up the core of what tapirs eat in natural habitats.