The Tapir Gallery
If you buy any of the books below through links to Amazon.com (see bottom of page), the Tapir Preservation Fund gets a percentage. Some of the following links go to online sources, others go to the text of the original piece, and still others go to Amazon.
Literary Works
Confessions of Felix Krull, Confidence Man
by Thomas Mann
Felix Krull meets Professor Kuckuck on a train and they pass the time in conversation. Unfortunately, the professor's scientific information is not quite correct! Found on pages 219-220 of the Signet edition:
"Oh, an artist in addition to all the rest. Very gratifying." "And you, professor, were certainly in Paris on museum business?" "You have guessed it. The purpose of my trip was to secure from the Paleo-Zoological Institute a few skeletal fragments that are very important to us - the skull, ribs, and shoulder blade of a long-extinct species of tapir, from which through many evolutionary stages our horse has descended." "What's that, our horse descended from the tapir?" "And from the rhinoceros. Yes, your riding-horse, marquis, has passed through the most varied forms. At one time, when it was already a horse, it was of Lilliputian size. Oh, we have learned names for all its earlier and earliest stages, names that end in hippos, 'horse,' beginning with 'eohippos' - the original tapir, that is, which lived in the Eocene." "In the Eocene. I assure you, Professor Kuckuck, I will make a note of the name. . . ."Green Mansions
by William H. Hudson
Published in 1904. "An exotic romance set in the jungles of South America." The hero falls in love with Rima, a strange and mystical bird-like woman of the forest. It's a charming and spellbinding story. Unfortunately the only tapir mentioned is one that was eaten for dinner. You'll find the one reference on page 209.
Journey to the Center of the Earth
by Jules Verne
Believe it or not, a tapir occurs in this book. It's on page 161 of the paperback copy I have. So you see, these two Germans and an Icelander have followed an empty volcanic shaft from Iceland toward the center of the Earth. Miles below the Earth's crust, they discover a subterranean sea and lots of prehistoric life. Verne's description of this proto-tapir is far more amusing than realistic:
"Farther on, the pachydermatous Lophrodon, that gigantic tapir, which concealed itself behind rocks, ready to do battle for its prey with the Anoplotherium, a singular animal partaking of the nature of the rhinoceros, the horse, the hippopotamus and the camel."This is all he has to say about tapirs. The book was fun, though. As they say, "a very good read." The copy I've linked to above is the one I bought (I think). No cover is shown on Amazon, but when you get it you should find that it has a graphic rendering of the party's raft caught between dueling sea serpents.
The Lost World
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Tapirs appear several times in this novel by the famous author. You can download the entire book from the link above, or search it for the word "tapir." You can also purchase the paperback here.
The Descent of Man
by Charles Darwin
I haven't seen this edition, but in my partial copy, tapirs can be found in Chapter 18.2, paragraphs 10 and 11. Darwin discusses spots and stripes. Origin of Species by Darwin also has a very brief reference to tapirs in the discussion of horse evolution. Darwin is such a classic, I've included him here in the Literary Works.
A Tapir's Tale
This is a lovely short story by James Belec. It's about a tapir in Sicily, and "no one in Sicilia believed in tapirs". . . . Unfortunately we no longer can find a link to this story.
Encounter with a Tapir
An extremely nice poem by Michael Fraley. See his main poetry page for more (though not about tapirs). When I noticed that Michael is on the staff of the University of San Francisco and that the poem was recent, I asked if he was inspired by the tapir at the San Francisco Zoo. Indeed! The poem depicts Goober, our friend from several reports on the Ungulate Observer page. Thanks to Ms. Anna Snoute for locating this poem and James Belec's story on the web.
The Nutmeg of Consolation
by Patrick O'Brian
I found the book thanks to Anthony Gary Brown's page: 'A Guide for the Perplexed'- Translations of All 'Non-English' Phrases in Patrick O'Brian's Sea-Tales. (I was looking for the word "tapirus" on Alta Vista.) There are brief mentions of tapirs on pages 192 and 199, but I enjoyed the whole book.
Penguin Island (Preface)
by Anatole France
"To make up for the defect of his eyes [M. Fulgence Tapir's] long and mobile nose, endowed with an exquisite sense of touch, explored the sensible world. By means of this organ Fulgence Tapir put himself in contact with art and beauty. . . ." There used to be an online copy, but it may have moved or been taken down. You can get the book from Amazon at the above link. I don't know if it has the same preface, though.
Tapirs Helping in the Office
This one is really goofy ~ click at your own risk!
Tommy Tapir's Incredible Adventure
An action thriller for kids, by Mark Rubi. It features a tapir, of course!
The Woman and the Ape
by Peter Høeg
Crazy escapades feature animals and humans in London. Tapirs are mentioned somewhere in the story. Actually, a pygmy tapir is mentioned, but pygmy tapirs don't exist.
Film
2001: A Space Odyssey
(1968) directed by Stanley Kubrick, with Kier Dullea
This is the classic film-with-tapirs-in-it. They actually get a fairly long segment considering they have rarely had as much air time in any nature film. It was after seeing this film on its first release that we got our first tapir, Stanley. His full name was Stanley K. Tapir. The K. is for Kubrick, of course. It's odd that the tapirs in the film appear in a desert setting (as do the other animals in the scene that really belong in a jungle), but it's beautifully filmed. The tapirs that were used are Brazilian tapirs from the Twycross Zoo in England. At least they went back to their grassy pastures afterwards!
Papillon
directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, with Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman
One of our tapir fan contacts said a friend had spotted a tapir in this film. Our link goes to Amazon.com. They have it in the regular version (above) or the widescreen version for the same price.
For non-fiction books featuring tapirs, visit Tapir's Book Store.
You can help support the Tapir Preservation Fund
by ordering ANY item (books, music, software, games)
from Amazon through this search link.