Because you can never have too many tapirs

Brazilian tapir (T. terrestris)?

Tapirus bairdii I believe.

Not only did Melody the Malayan tapir bite off that woman's arm, it did so at the mid-bicep, one of the more difficult places to do that I'd assume.

T.terrestris, I'd say it has a different colour pattern that that ob T.bairdii, and the hair seems too thin to be of T.pinchaque, but it may be.

And I though getting an urine steam just barely missing my head was bad enough, those guys are nasty...

It looks like T. terrestris. I hate not being sure.

I would also say T. terrestris mostly because of that little mohawk mane distinctive to the species and not the others.

"I love tapirs. But they're not always nice."

I once saw a woman at a local roadside zoo feeding cheez-its to a tapir kept in a pen. (The zoo sold bags of peanuts and froot loops as animal food. The primates appeared to be quite the sugar junkies.) Thankfully, she stopped as I was headed over to explain that hand-feeding the tapir was a really bad idea. All of her fingers were intact.

I think it's T. terrestris. I know not what to conclude from the coloration, but the mane seems decisive.

Baird's tapir! Just because I don't know what the others look like!

Judging by its profile, I'd also say it's a Brazilian tapir Tapirus terrestris.

Guessing T. terrestris because it looks like it has a mane. Obviously not T. indicus or T. pinchaque.

Cloned Megatapirus no doubt, I think his name is snuppir.

Juts because everyone's taken all the other guesses already, I'm going to guess that it's Tapirus bairdii à terrestris (which apparently have been bred in captivity and have produced offspring). I'm probably wrong, but what's the point in guessing something already guessed?

Mountain Tapir, is my guess

Tapirus terrestris. Because Tapirus bairdii has a different color pattern, and Tapirus pinchaque looks different.

Mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque)?

Thanks to all for comments. Megatapirus (comment 11): I have photos. As goes feeding tapirs in captivity (comment 6): many captive tapirs are friendly animals that enjoy human company. But, yes, they may well bite and caution is definitely warranted.

Anyway... the animal shown in Dave's photo is a Brazilian tapir Tapirus terrestris, as many of you correctly said. The presence of a neck mane is the main giveaway: this is absent in the otherwise similar Baird's or Central American tapir T. bairdii. I can't totally discount the possibility that the animal is a hybrid (see comment 12) - San Francisco Zoo kept a Baird's x Brazilian hybrid, and its offspring, and there are others in captivity too, but they tend to look a bit freaky (see the pics at The Tapir Gallery).

The Mountain tapir T. pinchaque is woolly-coated and with prominent pale lips, and thus very different. Are there more tapirs to come? The word on the street is that Marc van Roosmalen's alleged new tapir, the anta-pretinho (discussed at Tet Zoo here), is not a distinct species... but I can say no more for the time being :)

Just to be semantically picky while bringing up a point, I'd be amazed if said arm came 'clean' off. A colleague of mine was bitten by a Malayan tapir and while it was not so serious, it did leave four very jagged punctures in his thigh from the canines. In short I imagine a tapir bite that takes off a limb would be pretty messy in terms of the tissue damage (though of course most such accidents like that are).

The lady's entire arm was bitten off, at mid-biceps level: for one report go here. I don't doubt it was messy and ragged, as you say, but that's not what we mean by 'clean off'. It means 'completely off'.

There's also reports of a fatal attack by a tapir, although it seems that the victim was trying to stab it...

"A female tapir weighing approximately 180 kg was discovered
feeding in a 55-year-old manâs corn plantation.
According to the manâs colleague, the man grabbed and
stabbed the animal, which, in turn, then attacked and
repeatedly bit the man, causing fatal injuries. The tapir
inflicted at least 3 deep bites that caused severe lesions
and fatal hemorrhage. The tapir was later found near the
farm, dead from the wounds inflicted by the farmer."

The pdf contains some graphic photos...

http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1580/PR29-04.1?cookieSet=1&journalCode…

On the topic of new Tapir's is there any new's on the eleged pygmy brazilian Tapir?

Zach: see comment 16, last paragraph. There is more news but I'm not allowed to share it, yet.

'clean off'

... and them's good eatin'!

I did *say* I was being semantically picky - I know what you meant!

Am I alone in finding that tapirs look unfinished? Like something that is only halfway along in its evolution towards a more permanent model. That snout looks like it has potential to develop into something very clever but its not quite there yet. I'd really like to check back with tapirs in 3 million years or so to see how they've come along.

Well, I think it's a Brazilian tapir, because of the mane.

But there are captive hybrids between Baird's and Brazilian tapirs: http://www.tapirback.com/tapirgal/tbtap015.htm

I was bitten by a Brazilian Tapir on the hand at the Brevard Zoo in Florida in the late 90's. It left tooth indentations of its canines, premolars, and molars on me but applied little pressure. It was more of a warning nip, although it did take my whole hand in its mouth. I feel lucky I didn't make it too angry. This is why one should never try to pet a non-domesticated animal bigger than oneself.

That snout looks like it has potential to develop into something very clever but its not quite there yet. I'd really like to check back with tapirs in 3 million years or so to see how they've come along.

That's not how natural selection works.