* Fruits: They are particularly fond of fruits like figs, mangoes, and palm fruits.
* Leaves: They also consume leaves from a variety of trees and shrubs.
* Grasses: They graze on grasses, especially during the wet season when they are lush and plentiful.
* Aquatic plants: As they live near water, they also eat aquatic plants, like water hyacinths.
* Twigs and bark: They occasionally nibble on twigs and bark, especially during the dry season when other food sources are scarce.
Their strong sense of smell helps them locate fruits, leaves, and other food sources. They also have a prehensile snout that allows them to reach food in hard-to-reach places.
Overall, Brazilian tapirs play an important role in their ecosystem by dispersing seeds through their droppings, which helps maintain the diversity of plant life in their habitat.