Jan 10, 2010: Snow Tapir!

By David Beilby

Originally posted on "Tapirs" Google group

January 10, 2010

David wrote:

Here in the UK we have had much more snow than we have most winters. My son Jonathan decided to fashion this creation which is sadly even more endangered than the real thing.

Hopefully this will brighten up your winter's day!

Best Regards,

David Beilby

---

Reply by Sheryl:

Hey, I even see a carrot! Thanks so much for posting this! We're having a cold winter, too, but no snow yet in Astoria, Oregon. Lots of rain, and no snow tapirs! In fact, this may be a first. I've seen a sandcastle tapir done by Sally Woodcock. It seems you English are advanced when it comes to these creations. . . .

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Join WORLD TAPIR DAY on Facebook.

Patricia Medici and the Houston Zoo offer a guided tour to tapir country in the Pantanal of Brazil

Patricia Medici scouts potential tapir capture sites

for her radio-collaring project in Brazil's Pantanal.

Join the Houston Zoo and Terra Incognita Ecotours on a very special trip to Brazil's Pantanal August 23 - September 1, 2009.

Enjoy seeing animals and birds of the Pantanal region. The cost of your trip includes a donation to Patricia Medici's tapir conservation program. Read more about this remarkable opportunity on the web site of the Houston Zoo. For those of you who are interested in seeing tapirs, it is very possible to see tapirs in this environment, but a sighting is not guaranteed. As always, the animals tend to be elusive. However, the tapir popoulation in the Pantanal is relatively plentiful, and you may have as much chance to see them here as anywhere. This amazing habitat is rich with life, and your guide is experienced in the behavior of tapirs in the wild.

Click on the link above to read more about the tour on the Houston Zoo's web site. There you can also download a detailed PDF file with pictures of some of the Pantanal's exotic wild animals and descriptions of this special adventure guided by Patricia Medici and the Houston Zoo.

Photo of a tapir at Linton Zoo, UK

Hi Everyone,

Charmain Felts sent this photo of one of the lowland tapirs at Linton Zoo. She wrote:

Sending you a picture I took at Linton Zoo in Cambridgeshire, UK. This is by far the best enclosure I have seen Tapirs in. I highly recommend a visit if you are in the area . . . the Tapirs are called Shannon and Tanya, and have been at Linton zoo since 1990. The zoo's web site is www.lintonzoo.com.

Kind regards,

Charmain from Bedfordshire

Unique carved wood tapir from Colombia

UPDATE: There were no bids on our auction, but you can now purchase the tapir online from our new web site. Check out the tapir and other interesting palo de sangre wood carvings from Colombia!

Original post:

Dear Tapir Fans and Friends,

This charming tapir was among the items we recently purchased from Colombia. Hand carved of palo de sangre wood (bloodwood) it is definitely one of a kind. There were two carved tapirs in the current shipment, and the second was of a completely different shape - it also had a broken foot, which is one of the hazards of importing crafts. I have never seen another palo de sangre tapir that looks like this one. Every shipment is checked thoroughly for drugs by US customs when it comes into the country through Miami, but don't get me started on what they do to the objects and how they repack the boxes! Suffice it to say that many of the items are damaged. We are always thrilled when a beautiful piece such as this one comes to us completely unharmed.

THE TAPIR: This lowland tapir was carved by an artisan who lives in the lower elevations of Colombia near the Amazon basin. It measures 6 inches (15 cm) long and stands 2 1/2 inches (6.5 cm) tall. See below for more information on this beautiful red wood.

THE AUCTION: August 15 to August 25, 2008

Submit your highest bid by e-mail or phone (503-325-3179 - Oregon, USA) along with your contact info: Name, location, e-mail address and phone number(s). We do not need payment info at this time. At midnight (Pacific Time, USA), we'll look at all bids. The winner will be the highest bidder, and the price will be $5.00 over the top price of the 2nd highest bidder. Bidding starts at $50.00.

Please be prepared to pay by credit card at the time you win the auction. If we already know you from previous purchases, we may accept a check or money order. If we cannot contact you within 3 days, we will offer the tapir to the next highest bidder. If you know you will be out of contact at the time the auction is over, please let us know and we'll keep the tapir for when you get back.

We'll ship anywhere in the world. Shipping will be $6.00 in the US for Priority mail, and $2.00 over the actual rate charged by the post office in other countries. This usually works out to about $10.00 to $12.00 US. If you want expedited shiping or special services, we can do that at the time of shipping.

THE WOOD:

Palo de sangre is the Spanish name for this rich red wood. The English translation is "bloodwood." It is the heartwood of the trees Brosimum paraense and Brosimum rubescens. The sapwood is yellowish-white. According to Wikipedia, "Palo de sangre has a fine texture and takes a high polish. The wood is very hard and has a tendency to blunt tools. The wood is used in decorative woodworking and woodturning . . . . The Nature Conservancy considers this tree to be "secure within its native range." Other sources give additional names: muirapiranga, satiné rubane, cacique, and cardinalwood (due to its red color). It keeps its color, and does not turn brown with age like some highly colored woods.

Palo de sangre is carved into wonderfully attractive and charming animal figures in Colombia and other regions of tropical America. The bright red color is a natural property of the wood, as is the highly finished shine on the surface (evidenced by the reflected light in the photo). These animals are not varnished, stained, or painted, but come to you in their spectacular natural finish. Fortunately, the artisans who carve them are not restricted by any means or conventions to a particular template, so you get the benefit of each individual's vision and creativity. The wood also varies somewhat from one carving to the next as far as natural color, grain, and markings. The motifs themselves are repeated (crocodiles and manatees are common; tapirs are less common), although availability depends on circumstances.

Tapir Mola Art from Panama on T-Shirts and Gifts

Check out the beautiful tapir mola design in our new CafePress store! Your purchase helps save endangered species and their rainforest and Andean habitats. If tapirs are to be saved, people have to recognize them and care about their future. Help shed some light! Wear your tapir shirt and hat with pride! Send postcards and gifts that depict tapirs. Tell your friends what they're about. Let no one have to ask that sad and outdated question: "What is a tapir?" Does anyone ask, "What is a horse?" "What's a rhinoceros?" Let's have fun, flaunt some style, and promote these four endangered species! HELP SAVE THE TAPIRS! YEAH!

NOTE: I had to take down the design you see here because the photo resolution wasn't high enough. After much experimenting, I used the "twin" to this mola. It is slightly different from the one above, but more similar than different. These two mola designs are exceptional. I no longer have the one above, as it was sold on eBay. The molas are like twins and came stitched together. You'll see minor differences. Every mola is individual, which is part of their endless fascination for the many people who love them.

It's World Tapir Day!

This is Bintang, one of the Malayan tapirs born at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle during the time Heidi Frohring was their keeper and best friend. Heidi sent me this photo in December 2000. You can just see Heidi behind the tapir and its wreath made of foliage. She found many creative ways to use plants and other tapir food to keep the animals interested and occupied. Over the years she sent wonderful photos, creative pictures with heart. Someone else must have taken this photo, since Heidi is in it. (If you took the photo, please let me know and I'll give photo credit.) It embodies the same spirit as many of Heidi's own photos. The tapirs become real to us through their expressive faces and gestures, or the photos captured them in lighting or a moment that is memorable and touches something within us. We relate and we care.

SEND YOUR WORLD TAPIR DAY PHOTOS AND WE WILL POST THEM!

Personally, I'm celebrating World Tapir Day not so differently from other days. Making blog posts, working on the web site, sending animal toys and gifts to people who order them online, e-mailing others involved in the tapir world. Also typically, I'm wearing a tapir t-shirt and (since this is the Pacific Northwest, after all) wearing a tapir sweatshirt over that. Next week I'll be visiting Seattle to celebrate my birthday and to meet Wilson Novarino, a tapir conservationist, researcher, and educator from Sumatra, Indonesia. The Tapir Preservation Fund has helped in a small way to support his work since we met online nearly a decade ago. I'm certainly looking forward to meeting in person, and of course, to renew acquaintances with the wonderful staff and the tapirs at Woodland Park Zoo. I have a few friends in that city as well. It will be fun. I'll be sure, as always, to wear tapirs and take my camera!

Whatever you are doing today, the FIRST ANNUAL WORLD TAPIR DAY, please think of these animals and look forward to a world in which more people will know of them through your efforts and to care about their conservation. Wear a shirt from the Tapir Gift Shop or CafePress (search for the word "tapir"). Or make your own wearable tapir art. Talk to people when your shirt becomes a conversation piece! I recently bought myself a mouse pad of the mountain tapir on the tapir items page, and immediately Lee asked to have it, as he has also fallen under the spell of the tapir. Anthony Long, who came up with the original idea for World Tapir Day, has provided tapir items you can buy in his World Tapir Day Store on CafePress. Proceeds from your purchase will go to tapir conservation projects, and this year's funded project will be April and the other Baird's tapirs at the Belize Zoo. During the summer months, tourism slows down and it's always a struggle to get enough money to feed the animals. If we all pitch in, we can help ease the burden this year. Sharon (the zoo's founder and director) is an amazing person who has done so much to create a climate of conservation awareness in Belize and an awareness among locals and tourists of Belize's wild animals. She's created many conservation models in Belize that really work and have been an inspiration to others in the field. Let's help her feed the tapirs this year!

Fortunately these days when you google tapirs, you come up with a lot of material. Try it, it's fun! Meanwhile, here are just a few links relevant to this post:

The Official World Tapir Day Website
Anthony's Tapir Blog
April's recent birthday party
Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle

Announcing World Tapir Day: 27 April 2008!

What an exciting event! The tapirs are finally getting a holiday of their own! Anthony Long of Australia has been working night and day to put together the first World Tapir Day. This is truly an event whose time has come! It arrives with a new and beautifully-designed web site, some must-have tapir t-shirts, and a conservation initiative to donate funds raised from the sale of merchandise to the Belize Zoo for Sharon Matola's ongoing and ground-breaking conservation work. Please read more about why she can always use funding on the World Tapir Day Web site.

LINKS:

World Tapir Day Official Web Site

Anthony's Excellent Tapir Blog

World Tapir Day discussion and announcement on Google Group: TAPIRS

World Tapir Day Merchandise on CafePress

My visit to see April the Tapir in 2005

I've just posted about my visit to the Belize Zoo and April on my personal blog. I'm still working on the rest of the trip to Belize.

Help create "World Tapir Day"

Come join us for an interesting discussion on starting "World Tapir Day" on the TAPIRS Google Group! World Tapir Day also has its own domain now, and the splash page is up. Don't miss this adorable photo!

Beautiful, colorful tapir poster with your donation!

Dear Tapir Fans and Friends,

This absolutely beautiful tapir poster art is yours with a donation of $100.00 or more to the Tapir Preservation Fund's "Club Tapir" program. One hundred is the lucky number, because, as always, 100% of your donation goes directly to the project. TPF pays for wiring fees when money has to be sent out of the US. This is a GREAT opportunity for anyone who wants to support tapir work and get a beautiful poster into the bargain. We pay for shipping the poster to you as well. There are several still available as of January 26, 2008. Just click on the Club Tapir link above! Extra benefits this month: we still have over $400.00 in matching funds from a generous donor. Your donation will be matched and even more money can be sent directly to the Club Tapir winning project! Check it out today!

Wonderful tapir pix from Colombia!

I just received these delightful lowlanad tapir photos with e-mail from Camilo Muños. He wrote:

-------------------------------------

Hi!!! A long long time ago i visited your site. Anyway i just want to show you (And give you!) this pics i took this december at Pereira's Zoo in Colombia.

I think lots of people might wonder how it feels like to touch a tapir snout. Well it feels just like touching the nose of a horse. The same velvety feeling. Keep the good work!

Camilo Muñoz
Investigador Grupo GIGAAU
Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Cali

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Click on any photo to get a close up "in-your-face" warm and wonderful view of the tapir!

How much better can it get? :)





Many thanks to you, Camilo! Chevere!!! This is just what I needed today, and I'm probably not the only one who feels this way! I love it!

Sheryl

In the Field: Patricia Medici's tapir project - third capture day

More photos
On July 19, 2006, Patricia Medici wrote:

THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER!

Dear Friends,

Some more good news!!!! This morning we captured our third tapir ... in the very last day of this capture round!!! In fact, it was a recapture, this adult female called Tina that was first captured and radio-collared in April 2004. We were extremely lucky to recapture this animal as we were already thinking that we needed to recapture her to retrieve her radio-collar. Well, mission accomplished!!! We removed her radio-collar and collected all the necessary biological materials for her second epidemiological assessment.

This was a very productive capture round. We captured 3 tapirs in 11 days, and we are all looking forward to increasing this number of animals over the next years as we move forward with our epidemiological monitoring program.

Hope you enjoyed the news from the field and pictures we have been sending over the past days! I will certainly continue to keep you all posted about our activities here in the field and about the plans for our next tapir project in the Pantanal!!!

You all take care, hugs,

Pati

_________________________________________________________

Patrícia Medici

M.Sc. in Wildlife Ecology, Conservation and ManagementPhD Candidate, Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), University of KentLowland Tapir Project, IPÊ - Instituto de Pesquisas Ecológicas (Institute for Ecological Research)Chair, IUCN/SSC Tapir Specialist Group (TSG)Convener, IUCN/SSC Conservation Breeding Specialist Group (CBSG) - Brasil Regional Network

Avenida Perdizes, 285, Vila São Paulo, Teodoro Sampaio, CEP: 19280-000, São Paulo, BRAZILPhone & Fax: +55-18-3282-4690 / Cell Phone: +55-18-8119-3839

E-mail: epmedici@uol.com.br or medici@ipe.org.br

Web IPÊ: http://www.ipe.org.br/

Web IUCN/SSC TSG: http://www.tapirspecialistgroup.org/

Web IUCN/SSC CBSG: http://www.cbsg.org/

Web DICE: http://www.kent.ac.uk/anthropology/dice/

Protect your home against Carbon Monoxide: http://www.carbonmonoxidekills.com/

_________________________________________________________

In the Field: Patricia Medici and her team capture their second tapir in three days

See more photos

A note from Patricia Medici:

Dear Friends,

Just a brief message to let you all know that this morning there was another tapir inside one of our traps!!! Our second capture in 3 days! This time it was an adult male, a large one with an estimated weight of approximately 250 kg. Once again the manipulation went really well and we managed to collect all the samples we need for the epidemiological analysis.

Please continue to keep your fingers and toes crossed and wish us luck!!!! Enjoy the pictures!

You all take care,

Pati

_________________________________________________________

Patrícia Medici

M.Sc. in Wildlife Ecology, Conservation and ManagementPhD Candidate, Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), University of KentLowland Tapir Project, IPÊ - Instituto de Pesquisas Ecológicas (Institute for Ecological Research)Chair, IUCN/SSC Tapir Specialist Group (TSG)Convener, IUCN/SSC Conservation Breeding Specialist Group (CBSG) - Brasil Regional Network

Avenida Perdizes, 285, Vila São Paulo, Teodoro Sampaio, CEP: 19280-000, São Paulo, BRAZILPhone & Fax: +55-18-3282-4690 / Cell Phone: +55-18-8119-3839

E-mail: epmedici@uol.com.br or medici@ipe.org.br

Web IPÊ: http://www.ipe.org.br/

Web IUCN/SSC TSG: http://www.tapirspecialistgroup.org/

Web IUCN/SSC CBSG: http://www.cbsg.org/

Web DICE: http://www.kent.ac.uk/anthropology/dice/

Protect your home against Carbon Monoxide: http://www.carbonmonoxidekills.com/

_________________________________________________________

In the Field: Lowland tapir captured for study by Patrici Medici and her team in Brazil

See more photos

A note from Patricia Medici:

Dear Friends,

Just a brief message to share a little piece of good news! We are carrying out a small tapir capture round here in the field. Our main objective is to collect biological samples for epidemiological and genetics studies. As you all know, our long-term lowland tapir research project here in the Atlantic Forests of the Pontal do Paranapanema Region in São Paulo State, Brazil, has always included very strong epidemiological and genetics components. Over the past 10 years, we have been able to collect a huge amount of biological samples and all our results will be coming out very soon, in the form of Ph.D. dissertations and papers. From now on, the main idea for our work in the Pontal region is to establish a long-term tapir monitoring program that we will carry out over the next many years. One of the components of this program is to monitor tapir health and genetics, so we will be conducting capture rounds twice a year in order to collect biological materials. We are not installing radio-collars.

We started this first capture round as part of the monitoring program a couple of days ago, and will continue for 10 more days. We are using four traps (corrals), three in the park and one in a forest fragment. Yesterday we captured our first tapir, an adult female, with an estimated weight of about 200kg. It wasn't a very large tapir. The manipulation went really well and we were able to collect everything we needed to collect, including blood, tissue, swabs, ectoparasites etc.

There are other tapirs walking right next or in front of our traps, so we should have more captures to report over the next days!

Keep your fingers crossed and wish us luck!!!! Enjoy the pictures!

You all take care,

Pati

Note: The tapir, of course, was unharmed and soon went back to its normal activities. . . . ________________________________________________________

Patrícia Medici

M.Sc. in Wildlife Ecology, Conservation and ManagementPhD Candidate, Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), University of KentLowland Tapir Project, IPÊ - Instituto de Pesquisas Ecológicas (Institute for Ecological Research)Chair, IUCN/SSC Tapir Specialist Group (TSG)Convener, IUCN/SSC Conservation Breeding Specialist Group (CBSG) - Brasil Regional Network

Avenida Perdizes, 285, Vila São Paulo, Teodoro Sampaio, CEP: 19280-000, São Paulo, BRAZILPhone & Fax: +55-18-3282-4690 / Cell Phone: +55-18-8119-3839

E-mail: epmedici@uol.com.br or medici@ipe.org.br

Web IPÊ: www.ipe.org.br

Web IUCN/SSC TSG: www.tapirspecialistgroup.org

Web IUCN/SSC CBSG: www.cbsg.org

Web DICE: http://www.kent.ac.uk/anthropology/dice/

Protect your home against Carbon Monoxide: http://www.carbonmonoxidekills.com/
________________________________________________________

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.

Finding tapirs on the Web with Google News and blogs - and a note on using images

Colombo, a Baird's tapir at the
Kanazawa Zoo, Yokohama, Japan, 1997

There are so many more tapirs on the Web now than there were when The Tapir Gallery went online in 1996 - yes, it's been online that long! It's loads of fun looking at them! Of course, Google is a great way to find online tapirs using either the text search or the image search. We discovered recently that Google also has a news search, and it's an excellent way to find tapirs. Try both of these links: tapir and tapirs. Different listings come up when you use the singular and plural. From these links you can also subscribe to the Google Alerts for tapir news, and new posting links will arrive conveniently in your mailbox.

There is also an amazing number of references to tapirs in blogs these days. I like the Google blog search, myself.

Just a note of editorial here - OK, a rather long one, since I think it's important and have been dealing with it for about ten years. With so much posting and sharing (and I believe those are wonderful attributes of the Web), there is also a lot of stealing. That, I don't like. If you use an image, please ask the Web author or photographer for permission. It seems like a simple coutesy, but many, many people don't bother. The Tapir Gallery has given permission for students to use pictures in their school projects without asking first, but we do require them to give credit for where they got the images. If you want to make a birthday card for your mom or boyfriend, hey, don't worry about it. We're happy to have you do that. It's not a commercial or re-published use. You know what we're talking about - using images made by others and promoting them as your own work even if that's not stated.

The Tapir Gallery uses many of our own pictures, and we also use images supplied to us by others. We use them by permission and with credit. We believe it is OK to LINK to someone's image without asking, because by making a link a person is telling others where they got the image. We feel that this is important. Of course, if you do ask, you may get a link back, and that's a plus in the Web world.

We usually loan our pictures freely (depending on the project), and we appreciate credit and a link back to The Tapir Gallery (www.tapirback.com/tapirgal). If we don't know the photographer and we want to use an image on our site, we state that we don't know the source of the picture and will be glad to credit the owner when we find out who it is. We invite them to write to us. It's simply a matter of being honest. We appreciate it when other Web sites do the same.

I have been surprised over the years to see how many of my own tapir images (photos I took personally or that someone gave me to use) were posted on other Web sites with no credit. It's great to know that someone likes your pictures enough to want to use them, but it is also disconcerting because of the amount of time, energy, expense, artistic vision, and creativity that go into making pictures (photos or art) and posting them online. Everyone deserves credit for their work.

Left: A mountain tapir at the Colorado Springs Zoo. Photo by Sheryl Todd, The Tapir Gallery.

I recently found one of my original mountain tapir photos (shown at left) on a Web site that advertised photos that could be used "for free and without asking permission." I don't know how it got there, and when I wrote the Webmaster, the e-mail bounced. When I saw the same photo used without credit (of course, because they had gotten it from this "no-credit-needed" source), I contacted the authors, who were then happy to give the proper acknowledgement.

In addition to "giving credit where it is due," we, and most people publishing original work, try to give a context for the picture. I think this is very important. The species can be given correctly for identification, the location of the photo is given, and perhaps the circumstances of the photo are included. This interesting, informative, and often-educational material is usually lost when an image is stolen or mis-used, and that is unfortunate for anyone who loves these animals or simply needs the information in their research. Let's all try to play fair. It's not that hard. This post took approximately two hours. Yeah, original work does take time and thought.

Remembering Heidi and her tapir photos

Heidi Frohring, a friend and the tapir keeper at Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, passed away May 1, 2005. Yesterday I came across a folder of 96 of the photos she'd sent me over the past few years. Most of them are of the tapirs at the Woodland Park Zoo. One or two are of tapirs elsewshere, a few are of her human friends, there are couple of Heidi, a few are of other animals, and one is of flowers. Putting them online properly takes such a long time, and I wanted to get them up quickly so everyone could enjoy them. Click on either photo above and you'll find a list of picture links. Click on each link separately to see the photo. There is also a zip file with all of the photos that you can download near the top of the picture list.

I love Heidi's photos. Like her, they are creative, interesting, and bursting with character. They also give a sense of how much she loved her tapirs.

Baird's Tapir Video on NGC.com

Patricia Medici sent us this link to the video. When the ad is finished playing, you'll see nice tapir scenes - enjoy!

New tapirs at Mountain View

A Malayan (or Asian) tapir baby follows its parent at the Mountain View Conservation Breeding Centre in BC, Canada, near Langley. Here the tapirs have unusually large enclosures. Mountain view has two pair of Asian tapirs and has recently aquired a male mountain tapir to pair with their female. Word has it that the two get along famously. This makes only three pair of mountain tapirs in captivity anywhere.

Mountain View has two pair of Asian tapirs. All of their tapirs live in extremely generous enclosures (almost the wrong word, since you cannot - or can barely - see one side from the other). One enclosure for the Asian tapirs has steep ravine and a heavily-wooded landscape where the tapirs gallop surprisingly fast and show their abilities as climbers. Each pair enjoys a small lake. One of the features here is that both parents are left together to raise the infants. This process has been successful at Mountain View and has made for some interesting observations and viewing.

Both of the above photos are from the Mountain View Web site. The calf was born sometime during this past winter, so please follow the link above, phone ahead and ask about the baby if you're expecting to see stripes and spots. They may be faded by this time as the calf has been growing.