On your next walks through the forest, imagine that you are not alone. Even if you don’t see them—and you likely won’t—hundreds of animals move beneath the same canopy, at different hours and in silence.
One of them is the tapir, a species that is rarely seen.
Also known as danta or danto, the Central American tapir (Tapirus bairdii) is a solitary, mostly nocturnal and elusive mammal. It inhabits dense forests and typically moves around rivers, waterholes, and other water sources.
In Belize, where it is recognized as the national mammal, it is known in Kriol as “mountain cow.” In Honduras, it is also known as “tilba” in Miskito. Its distribution ranges from southern Mexico to northwestern Colombia, across large Mesoamerican landscapes such as the Gran Selva Maya Biocultural Corridor.
A forest engineer
The tapir is a seed disperser. By feeding on fruits and moving through the forest, it directly contributes to forest regeneration.
It is also part of the ecological dynamics: calves may become prey for large predators such as the jaguar.
Seeing what is rarely seen
Its behavior makes it challenging to document. That is why camera trap monitoring is essential.
In the Maya Forest Corridor (Belize), park rangers captured a tapir moving along a riverbank.
In La Moskitia (Honduras), the biological monitoring team documents its presence in one of the largest continuous blocks of tropical forest in the region.
In this record, a tapir moves alongside its calf, whose spotted coloration—with light stripes and dots—helps it camouflage in the forest during its first months of life. Over time, these patterns disappear, giving way to the characteristic dark coat of adults.
In Guatemala, in Mirador–Río Azul National Park, this record is part of a joint effort among organizations. The image shows two tapirs at a waterhole—vital spaces they use to drink, feed, and regulate their body temperature, and where they are more likely to be recorded.
A future that depends on the forest
The Central American tapir is classified as Endangered. Habitat loss and fragmentation remain its main threats. Protecting the forests it still inhabits—and keeping them connected—is key to its survival.