All but the almost woolly Mountain are sparsely haired. Wild - preferring green shoots, tapirs graze and browse on brush, meadow and aquatic vegetation. They all will eat fruit, but the Malayan is quite fond of it. When pursued, tapirs will dash through dense vegetation. Paths through edge vegetation and thickets are used and reused forming depressed paths and tunnels.
Tapirs are solitary and mark territory with dung piles and sprayed urine, very similar to rhinos.
They depend on their sense of smell more than any other sense and they investigate everything with their very sensitive nose. Dung and urine marking usually indicates heightened olfaction. Tapirs are crepuscular, adopting a more nocturnal pattern when in close association with humans. Tapir size and shape belies their agility. They climb quite well, easily scrambling river banks and slopes.