Tapir: A Strange Animal快來(lái)認(rèn)識(shí)“五不像”

Which one is the national treasure in our country？

以下哪種動(dòng)物是我國(guó)的國(guó)寶呢？把它圈出來(lái)吧！

Answer： 圖1是我國(guó)的國(guó)寶，圖2是馬來(lái)西亞的國(guó)寶馬來(lái)貘哦！

The Malayan tapir（馬來(lái)貘）is the biggest（最大的） of all the tapirs. Look！ It is black and white. 當(dāng)它還是個(gè)寶寶的時(shí)候，可是穿著“花衣服”的哦！當(dāng)貘寶寶慢慢長(zhǎng)大，身上的“衣服”才會(huì)逐漸變成黑白色的。

Reasons for its nickname（綽號(hào)）：

它的鼻子像大象，耳朵像馬，腿像犀牛，足像虎，身軀像熊。

The tapir can smell（聞） food easily with the long nose. 馬來(lái)貘用長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的鼻子卷起食物并進(jìn)食。The tapirs mainly feed on（以……為食） bamboo. They also eat branches and leaves.

They are timid（膽小的） and kind. They like to stay in the water or the mud.

When they see the enemies（敵人），they can hold the breath（憋氣） and hide in the water for a long time.

They always poop（排便） in the water. That’s amazing and strange. Why？

這是為了防止老虎等天敵順著糞便的味道或痕跡追來(lái)并發(fā)動(dòng)攻擊。

In ancient times， there were some interesting legends（傳說(shuō)） about the tapirs. People in China and Japan thought the tapirs could eat dreams and nightmares（噩夢(mèng)）.

So the great poet Bai Juyi once asked a painter to draw a tapir on his screen（屏風(fēng)）and wrote an article for it.

其名曰貘，非鐵不食。

昔在上古，人心忠貞。

——［唐］白居易 "《貘屏贊》