. Brehm's Life of animals : a complete natural history for popular home instruction and for the use of schools. Mammalia. Mammals; Animal behavior. 424 THE ODD-TOED ANIMALS. ger and heed no wound. Any one who has dealt with captive Tapirs for any sufficient length of time knows that they are mentally much above Rhinoceroses and Hippopotami, and about on the same level of intel- ligence as Pigs. "A Tapir taken young," says Reng- ger, "accustoms itself in a few days to human beings and habitation, not leaving the latter after once be- coming thoroughly acquainted with the surround
. Brehm's Life of animals : a complete natural history for popular home instruction and for the use of schools. Mammalia. Mammals; Animal behavior. 424 THE ODD-TOED ANIMALS. ger and heed no wound. Any one who has dealt with captive Tapirs for any sufficient length of time knows that they are mentally much above Rhinoceroses and Hippopotami, and about on the same level of intel- ligence as Pigs. "A Tapir taken young," says Reng- ger, "accustoms itself in a few days to human beings and habitation, not leaving the latter after once be- coming thoroughly acquainted with the surround- ings. It becomes restless if its keeper leaves it for any considerable time, and seeks him, if it is at lib- erty. It allows anybody to touch and stroke ; Kappler, who frequently reared young Tapirs, says that he always used to make somebody a present of them while still young, because they became so an- noyingly familiar; an adult specimen once pulled the cloth off a set table with everything that was on it. Those that I have taken care of justified these statements. Both species proved to be very good- natured creatures. They were quite tame, possessed of peaceable intentions toward all animals, perfectly agreeing among themselves, and affectionate toward their friends. Keller-Leuzinger is persuaded that the Anta could be reduced to a domestic state. He says that those which are taken young become as tame as Dogs in a few days, and never think of es- caping. "In Curitiba, the capital of the province of Parana," he says, "a tame, ownerless Tapir used to run about in the streets for several years; from morn- ing to night Negro boys would ride on it. A tem- perature of two or three degrees below zero, centi- grade, as happens there quite frequently in June and July, seemed to affect it very ; Tapirs in the free state feed exclusively on vege- table substances, such as leaves of trees. In Brazil they are partial to young palm leaves; not infre
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjecta, booksubjectmammals
