The mountain tapir lives in the Andes of northern South America and has a thick coat suited to its cold mountain home.
It has a longer, thicker coat and underfur than other tapirs. Like other tapirs, its short, flexible snout helps it grasp leaves and branches.
A 2015 distribution model for mountain tapirs in Ecuador estimated about 21,729 square kilometers of suitable area, mainly along the eastern Andes. Ten Andean ecosystem types covered about 98% of the modeled area, with herbaceous páramo and northeastern montane evergreen forests among the most representative habitats, covering about 5,601 and 4,208 square kilometers respectively.
When current land-use habitat loss was included, the modeled area declined by about 17%. Climate scenarios alone produced a projected reduction of up to 37.86%, while combined land-use and climate scenarios showed reductions of 19.90–44.65%. Existing protected areas contained about 36–48% of the modeled distribution.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
A 2015 model of mountain tapirs in Ecuador placed most potential habitat along the eastern Andes. Under current land-use scenarios, modeled area fell by about 17%, while protected areas overlapped roughly 36–48% of the modeled distribution. The results highlight Andean forests and páramo as important elements in regional conservation planning.