Silvia Chalukian wins Club Tapir vote for October 2008

Dear Tapir Fans and Friends,

You can read more about Silvia's project in Argentina and vote for November's Club Tapir project on our Club Tapir page.

Visit the Proyeco Tapir site here. It's in several languages, including English. I love the animated intro!

Sheryl

Club Tapir for September and October and a bit about albino tapirs

Above: A Baird's tapir is taking a mud bath in Nuevo Becal, Campeche, Mexico. You can read more about Georgina O'Farrill's tapir project here. The white spot on the head appears to me to be similar to some other Baird's tapirs from Mexico that apparently had genetically-transmitted partial albinism. See photos here, here, and here (note the nose of this baby in the second photo!).

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Dear Tapir Fans and Friends,

Thank you, thank you for your support of Club Tapir in September! I know it's much more difficult in this economy, and the projects are that much more in need of funding, and that much more appreciative of the funding that comes in.

OUR WINNER FOR SEPTEMBER is Georgina O'Farrill of Mexico. You supported her work for $250.00 in September. Thank you!

VOTING FOR OCTOBER'S PROJECTS is now online and ready to go:

http://www.tapirback.com/tapirgal/club-tapir/

I'm going to be away for a couple of weeks, but Sue is here to take your votes and answer any questions at the e-mail link on the Tapir Gallery as usual.

http://www.tapirback.com/tapirgal/

When I get back, we have two main thrusts for fundraising besides Club Tapir. As the Christmas season is coming soon, our gift shop will keep us busy and most of our available time and effort will be directed there. The gift shop is our main source for funding tapir work, and this is the time of year we need to maximize what it can do for us.

http://www.tapirback.com/tapirgal/gifts/friends/

In addition, I will be looking at putting more material online for our supported tapir projects, including blogs, etc. We all need to get creative in today's economy, and we'll be working with the project Principals to do just that!

Thanks for your ideas and support.

All the best,

Sheryl

Tapirs at the Georgetown Zoo, Guyana

The photos in this blog post are old ones. We're expecting updates soon. Keep on reading. . . .

On Sunday, September 21, 2008, I received e-mail wth the subject line: "Tapirs at Georgetown Zoo." Wow, did THAT bring back memories! Here is the reaffirming letter from Julia and Patrick Petipas that accompanied the subject:

Hi,

We used to be members of the original tapir club years ago, and have retained our interest in tapirs. Last week we unexpectedly saw the fruits of a Tapir Preservation Fund project.

Patrick's a pilot and now works a Georgetown, Guyana route pretty regularly. I went along with him last time. Late one afternoon we ourselves with some free time and all the tourist attractions we knew of closed for the day; a taxi driver suggested we visit the zoo. We were hesitant, since too many zoos, especially in poorer countries, are sad and depressing. But he insisted it was nice, and that the park where it was located was worth a look even if we didn't like the zoo.

It was a little depressing, but it seemed evident that zookeepers cared and were trying to do right with what they had. We also saw a tapir area, but no tapirs.

As we were heading for the exit, close to the sunset closing time, we saw that the tapirs had emerged so we went to see them. And to our surprise, they approached, snouts sniffing at us curiously. The female seemed to be particularly interested in me, and especially friendly staying near us for as long as we stood there and following to the edge of their enclosed area when we had to leave. They both seemed to be healthy and well cared-for. As we were leaving, we noticed a sign on the roof over their pool that said funding had been provided by the Tapir Preservation Fund and asked ourselves if this was the same organization, and if it was still in existence.

I'm very glad to see that it is, and that the Georgetown Zoo project, apparently one of the first projects funded ten years ago, is still helping out tapirs! I think we'll be rejoining Club Tapir.

Julia & Patrick

The Georgetown tapirs were, indeed, one of Club Tapir's first projects. My initial thought had been to help provide funding for projects working with wild tapir conservation, when I was contacted by Karl Kranz, then Senior Vice-President of Animal Affairs for the Philadelphia Zoo, asking if we'd take on a special-needs zoo project. It was gratifying to be able to help, and the voters liked being able to see the tapirs that would benefit from their donations. In October 1998, the Georgetown Zoo tapirs won their first vote (and dollar award) on Club Tapir as a project in need of funding. The zoo staff was caring, but there was no money for badly-needed improvements. I'd been contacted by Karl Kranz about helping via Club Tapir, and the Club Tapir voters were enthusiastic. By July 1999, we had pitched in to raise $1,465.00 for the project. ZCOG nearly matched the sum under the directorship of Dan Hilliard, and Donna Shepherd supplied us with photos, some of which are below. You can read more about it in this issue of TPF News, SEE PHOTOS OF SOME OF THE IMPROVEMENTS, and get a glimpse of what it's like to move 400-pound tapirs without a crane!

During their visit in 2008, Julia and Patrick were so enamored of the tapirs' friendliness and interest in humans, they simply related to them and didn't think of taking photos. Julia says Patrick is going back soon and will be sure to bring the camera. As a comparison, I'm posting a few photos below of the old zoo in the late 1990s. You can see that the area is lush and green the way tapirs like it. The staff is caring and affectionate towards the tapirs, but the structures are old and in need of repair. These pictures were taken in 1999. Julia and Patrick will be sending updated ones very soon and I'll post them for you.

Georgetown Zoo, Guyana, 1999

Georgetown Zoo, Guyana, 1999. Outdoors, the tapirs had no shade during the middle of the day.

Georgetown Zoo, Guyana, 1999

Club Tapir page ready for September's donations

Hi All,

The new page is up. A few changes have been made, and you can see and vote for the current projects via this link. The tapir projects represent long hours of ongoing work - every day, every week, every year. It's so gratifying to see that, whereas a number of years ago tapir work was sporadic and the projects were short, the tapir world now has a number of quality projects that have a longevity of production stretching for years, not months. These projects, like the new ones, need ongoing support. You can read about and help to support one of four tapir conservation and research projects here:

http://www.tapirback.com/tapirgal/club-tapir/

I wish I could show you more of the actual work that's being done in the field. It's been a goal of the Tapir Preservation Fund to make more of the material available. It is labor-intensive to get the work from the field onto a web site, and I simply haven't had as much time as I'd like to devote to this area. (Volunteers are welcome!) More and more projects are developing their own sites, and we've linked to the ones we know about. It's a lot of work for anyone involved - the research and conservation aspect, and then the proposals and marketing on top of that. There is always so much more going on behind the scenes than can be presented. If you're interested in a particular project, the Principal Investigator (PI) will probably have proposals or material you can read. Just ask and we'll help you contact them. You can also read about ongoing tapir projects on the IUCN/SSC Tapir Specialist Group web site. Thanks so much for your support and interest!

Donate to help save tapirs ~ Club Tapir projects for May are now online!

Lowland tapirs, Argentina

Asian tapir, Sumatra, Indonesia

Baird's tapir, Mexico

Mountain tapir, Colombia

Above are four photographic hints about the current Club Tapir Projects. One is brand new, three are old favorites. Vote for one, vote for several. Your votes = dollars for tapir conservation! Check them out and place your vote. This month we have all four tapir species represented by projects you can select. One hundred percent of your voting dollars go to the winning project. The Tapir Preservation Fund pays the administration costs, including costs to wire or send money to the winner. This month, our matching funds have run out, so every vote we can get is needed to help fund the project. These are wonderful conservation efforts. Please take a look!

We had some very close voting in April. The winners for March and April will be posted soon. April was so busy here that I never got the Club Tapir page updated. Thanks to your persistence and generosity we had votes and a winner anyway. I'm writing this from my laptop on the road and I must get moving, so . . . updates for those two months will be available soon!

New Grants for Tapir Projects

See who's getting grant money from the Tapir Preservation Fund . . .