tapir

/ˈteɪpər/

/ˈteɪpɪə/

Other forms: tapirs

If it's a hoofed mammal with a short, trunk-like nose, it's probably a tapir. Unless you spend a lot of time in the jungle, you're most likely to see a tapir at the zoo.

It might take you a minute to identify a tapir, even if you frequent the South American and Southeast Asian jungles where most tapirs live. These horse and zebra relatives are rare, considered endangered or vulnerable because of human activity. The most distinctive thing about tapirs is probably the flexible nose, which is much shorter than an elephant's trunk but equally useful for grabbing leaves to eat.

Definitions of tapir

1. noun

   large inoffensive chiefly nocturnal ungulate of tropical America and southeast Asia having a heavy body and fleshy snout
   types:

   New World tapir, Tapirus terrestris

   a tapir found in South America and Central America

   Indian tapir, Malayan tapir, Tapirus indicus

   a tapir found in Malaya and Sumatra

   type of:

   odd-toed ungulate, perissodactyl, perissodactyl mammal

   placental mammals having hooves with an odd number of toes on each foot