<p>Mountain tapirs (<i>Tapirus pinchaque</i>) are the last megaherbivores of the northern Andean cloud forests, yet little is known about their ecology and natural history. This keystone species urgently requires conservation actions to reverse its global population decline. Here we combined camera trap data with hierarchical occupancy models, moonlight models, circular statistics, and kernel density probability functions to gain new insights into the habitat requirements of mountain tapirs in two protected areas in the Central Andes of Colombia. We analyzed data from 81 sampling stations with a sampling effort of 5,594 traps/nights in an area of 53.7 km². We found that mountain tapir occupancy was mainly related to the non-linear effect of elevation and that detection probability was strongly and positively related to proximity to water bodies. Activity of mountain tapirs was mainly cathemeral with a nocturnal behavior greatly associated with the darkest nights, even in periods of full moon. The moonlight model provides consistent evidence of mountain tapirs showing lunar phobic behavior, which might suggest a tradeoff between food acquisition and safety. Our findings enforce the fact that the montane cloud forests in the western foothills of the Central Andes of Colombia can be considered an important conservation stronghold for the species. We encourage researchers to assess whether these observed patterns can be extended to more degraded landscapes across the species’ distribution and to understand relationships with the predator and parasite assemblage as well as tourism activity.</p>