Beaded Baby Tapir from Guatemala

New in our online store . . .

Our Beaded Baby Tapir

It was another one of those very lucky days when Catherine Todd (same last name, no relation) contacted me about taking some of our plastic animals to Guatemala so the artisans could craft beaded animals with the plastic replicas as a realistically-shaped base. The subject at hand was camels, but we thought it would be fun to make some beaded tapirs as well. Imagine my delight when these cute animals came back in the mail, their plastic bodies covered in shiny seed beads stitched together into a brand new creation. You don't find beaded tapirs just anywhere, trust me! I've looked! When you purchase one of these unique animals from our collection, you help in a number of ways. You help save tapirs, because that's what we do. You help the local artisans in Guatemala who need an outlet for their work (yes, jobs!), and you help my new friend Catherine with her sustainable business of working with the artisans of Guatemala to maintain jobs for themselves and make beautiful art for many people around the world to enjoy. Check out our other tapir items as well as our page of beaded animal art!

About Baby Tapirs

Baby tapirs are some of the most adorable and engaging animals on Earth! There are four species of tapir, and the babies of all species are marked with their distinguishing spots and stripes. The stripes on our beaded baby tapir do not match those of any particular species, so you can imagine it's whichever species you like best. Baby tapirs are quite friendly and lovable. They can stand and walk almost immediately, and they quickly begin to explore their world with amusing curiosity. It takes a gestation period of about 13 months for a pair to produce one baby. Can you believe that? It's one of the longest gestation periods among mammals. Even horses give birth after about 11 months. Because only one baby is born per pregnancy, and because the gestation period is so long, the tapirs are said to have a long "recruitment period." This means that for every tapir that is killed in the wild (or that dies of natural causes), it takes a very long time to replace that animal. This is one reason why hunting and destruction of habitat are so devastating to the Earth's dwindling population of tapirs. You can purchase this beaded tapir, take it home, and be proud not only to have a beautiful, unique, hand-made work of art, but also to know that your purchase keeps the Tapir Preservation Fund going so we can support tapir conservation in the field.

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This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

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Resin (Plastic) Baby Mountain Tapir!

Hi All,

We finally did it - we have a plastic baby tapir in our online gift shop. It's actually made of resin in Colombia. Hand-modeled and locally cast in Bogota, then hand-painted. Come check him out. . . . click here!

Beautiful tapir mola from San Blas Islands, Panama

BAIRD'S TAPIR ART:
TRADITIONAL HAND-MADE MOLA FROM PANAMA
This detailed stitchery is 16 inches wide x 12 inches tall.

Molas are clothing art of the Kuna Indians of Panama. This mola from the San Blas Islands consists of a fine-line pattern of the most traditional style and quality.

During our two two weeks in Panama in January, 2006, we saw a quite a number of molas, but only TWO depicted the tapir in this traditional mola form made of FINE LINES OF COLOR. One is in this auction, and one we will keep for our own collection. We found a few other molas depicting tapirs that were made in a more modern applique style using larger areas of color, and these will be put online as we have time. We believe that the traditional-style TAPIR mola IN THIS AUCTION is extremely rare. Molas originated as wearable art. The intricate designs made by the Kuna women lasted longer than the clothing they were attached to. When the blouse wore out, the decorative panel was unstitched from the surrounding cloth and recycled when it was re-sewn into a new blouse. These days, many molas are made strictly for the tourist trade. That is probably the case with the one shown here as well. The backing is white, and up to three layers have been added on top, inlcuding the black. The delicate hand stitching can be seen on the back. None of this piece was made by machine. Although the piece was made in the San Blas Islands, we purchased it in Panama City. The piece is as-made with trimmed edges and is perfect for framing.

Tapirs in Panama: Although many people in those in countries where tapirs live have never seen nor heard of one, we were excited to find several people in Panama City as well as a few local people in the mountain villages we visited who were passionately interested in the tapir's survival. Baird's tapir is the only tapir species living in Panama. Its total numbers there are unknown but are estimated to be about 300 to 500 individuals, essentially broken into two population areas - one in the mountains of the west near Costa Rica, and one in the low-lying jungles of the Darien. The lowlands along the north coast include the area in which this mola was made. Baird's tapir is endangered throughout its range of southern Mexico to northern Colombia. Adrian Benedetti, Director of the Summit Zoo just outside Panama City, has taken special interest in tapirs and is beginning to network with other Panamanian environmentalists to find ways of protecting these amazing animals.

A note on the tapir: Baird's tapirs weigh about 500 to 600 pounds. They have four toes on each front foot and three toes on each rear foot. Every toe is encased in a small hoof. Tapirs are related to horses and rhinos, and have remained very little changed for about 20 million years. Now all tapir species are endangered throughout their ranges.