Although the tapir is the largest of all Amazon land animals, weighing up to 800 hundred pounds, it is the most difficult to one to get a good look at in the wild. Tapirs are mostly nocturnal animals and are extremely intelligent. The best time to see them is during the day time at the peak of the dry season when it is hot and they have to come to the river to cool off. It is common during the dry season to see them swimming across the river as you will see in this video. You will also see that they are fast swimmers and when they hit the shore, zoom! they are gone.
This is what they look like out of the water.
Click on the photo to see the video.
