Friday, December 30, 2011

Tapir/Taper Story

In 2012 I will continue to do massive scanning of my 40+ years worth of tapir files and attempt to put more of the results online than I did in 2011. There are all kinds of things in the file from articles to photos to who-knows-what. Yesterday I came upon this story sent to me in 2000. The person who sent it is all grown up now, but the story is still fun:

Date: Sun, 7 May 2000 18:20:17 EDT
To: tapir@tapirback.com

I have a tapir story for you.

My family has always loved tapirs, and they are always the main reason we go to the zoo. One day, my dad came back from his run and told us a story. He had run up in the hills around our house, and had stopped to look at a house under construction. This is a very odd house, because it is a big bubble dome. He was looking, and then the owner of the house came by, and she said, "You can look around, but be careful, because there is a tapir around."

So my dad went and looked at the house, but he didn't see any tapirs. It was only then when he was telling it to us that he realized that the woman meant taper, as in one who tapes.

I'm not sure if this is the kind of story you want, because it doesn't involve real tapirs. My name is Spencer Easton, and I'm 13 (well, 14, in 6 days). I love your website, and have pictures of tapirs on my walls!



Spencer, I loved your story then and I still do. It's too bad it took me 11 years to get it online :-) Who knows what else I'll find in my files. . . .

~ Sheryl



Please e-mail your photos and text if you would like to see them on this blog.
This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.
Join WORLD TAPIR DAY on Facebook.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Carved Bloodwood Tapirs from Colombia



Support conservation efforts with this unique, hand-carved collectible!

Our Bloodwood Animals

Palo de sangre is the Spanish name for this rich, red wood which is popular for making cultural handcrafts and art in South America. 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 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. See our full selection of bloodwood ("palo de sangre") hand-carved animals from Colombia.

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. Although the individual item is different from all others, the motifs are repeated. For example, crocodiles and manatees are more common; and tapirs are less common. We may be able to get several tapirs this month and none next month, for example. Or we may be able to get small otters one month and only large otters the next. We decided to show you each and every animal we have available, and you can order by the number. You will receive the exact item you see on the web site. The only order option for quantity is one per item, as no two are alike. These carved wood animals are imported to the US by the Tapir Preservation Fund. Your purchase helps support conservation of tapirs and their habitat.

Tapirs of Colombia


Colombia is the only country that is home to more than two species of tapir. Three distinct species and one subspecies inhabit the country. Mountain tapirs live in one chain of the Andes mountains, lowland tapirs live in much of the jungle (eastern) area of Colombia, and a very few Baird's tapirs live in the far north near the Isthmus of Panama. There is also a subspecies of lowland tapir called the Colombian tapir living in an isolated area called Santa Marta. Colombia is still a frontier for tapir discoveries. The Colombian tapir, a subset of the lowland tapir, was believed by some to be a distinct subspecies, but it was only clearly distinguished as such in the past few years. Some people believe that Baird's tapir, which can be found in a small pocket in the north of Colombia also ranges down the dense, barely-accessible western coast. There have been reports of sightings or tracks of Baird's tapir in the west, but no definitive evidence has been brought to light. We hope that Baird's tapir will be someday be identified for certain as living along Colombia's west coast.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Tapir Skull at Point Defiance Zoo

August 27, 2006 ~ Tacoma, Washington

There was a tapir skull on display outside the Asian tapir enclosure at Point Defiance Zoo on one of my trips up there in 2006. Tapir skulls are interesting and there was a nice young woman giving info to anyone who would listen, explaining points about the skull. Notice the huge area between the top of the jaw and that small triangle of bone above it. This is the space necessary for all the passages and muscles of the tapir's nose.

Click on any photo to enlarge.



The eye socket is not enclosed, but is wide open towards the back of the head. This is a primitive form not seen in many mammals.


Check out the inside of the nasal cavity. I'm not sure what those parallel ridges are for. And check out the guy in the corner. See what I mean about the eye sockets being different?


Please e-mail your photos and text if you would like to see them on this blog.
This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.
Join WORLD TAPIR DAY on Facebook.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

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.

Please e-mail your photos and text if you would like to see them on this blog.
This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.
Join WORLD TAPIR DAY on Facebook.

Friday, November 04, 2011

Emergency Room Tapir


Astoria, Oregon ~ March 3, 2011

You never know where you're going to find a tapir! Fortunately, I had my cell phone with me and it had a camera.

I had the worst flu or cold of my life - or whatever kind of bug it was - in late February and early March of this year, and on March 3rd I took myself to the Emergency Room to figure out why I felt so bad. As it turned out, I had a freaky reaction to Tylenol PM and I was having something just short of panic attacks. Since I wasn't seriously ill or damaged, it took them over three hours to get around to processing my tests. Meanwhile, look who was there to keep me company! Under the circumstances, I was especially glad to have the little tapir by my side.

I don't know who got the idea to paint a mural with a TAPIR of all things in the temperate lands of northwestern Oregon, but we are, after all, in a rainforest, albeit different from the one where this little Asian tapir lives in real life.

Please e-mail your photos and text if you would like to see them on this blog.
This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.
Join us on Facebook.
Join WORLD TAPIR DAY on Facebook.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

A Mountain Tapir at Home



Check out this short video from Armando Castellanos' Mountain Tapir Project in Ecuador. 

If you ever wondered what mountain tapir country is really like . . . be amazed! Also, check out the sidebar for a video of a mountain tapir mother and baby in the wild (or see it here).

You can follow Armando and his projects on Facebook.



Please e-mail your photos and text if you would like to see them on this blog.
This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.
Join WORLD TAPIR DAY on Facebook.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Tapirs at Macoa

Lowland Tapirs at Macoa, Colombia
Photo copyright Lee Spangler 2011

With only a few minutes available online, Lee sent me two out of about 50 photos he took of several lowland tapirs frolicking in the waters of the reserve at Macoa, Colombia. The description he gave over Skype was almost completely unexpected! (And we thought tapirs only lounged around trying to catch some zzzzs?) I'd only noted some of the behaviors once or twice during my 40+ years of watching or reading about these animals, and I hadn't heard about other behaviors at all. It was truly fascinating to hear first-hand, and I'll get him to elaborate for us once he has more time. Meanwhile, check out Lee's post on his own blog, "Lee's Daily Adventure." You'll see a couple more shots of these guys. Click on the top photo of Lee's post and notice how hard it's raining! The tapirs loved it. I remember my own tapir, Stanley K., looking to the sky and opening his mouth wide when it would rain. Lee didn't report this behavior, but you'll enjoy hearing the story when he has more time online. Check it out.


Please e-mail your photos and text if you would like to see them on this blog.
This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.
Join WORLD TAPIR DAY on Facebook.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Leaving for Colombia


On September 8, Lee Spangler left Portland, Oregon, for a month-long trip to Colombia, where he joins experienced naturalist Emilio Constantino for a fascinating ecotour adventure searching out unique flora, fauna, vistas, and cultures. Not the least of his hopes is to see a tapir in the wild. Colombia is the only country in the world that is home to all three American species: mountain tapir, lowland tapir, and (far in the north and hard to reach) a small population of Baird's tapirs. I'll be continuing to post bits of Lee's adventures here on the TPF blog, but you can read and follow along by clicking on the links below. Be sure to sign up for e-mail delivery of Lee's blog posts. He'll post when he can, but since connectivity outside of major towns is very limited, he won't be posting every day. Thanks for checking in, and here are a couple of  links to get you started!

Lee's Daily Adventure
First post from the trip; note the cool luggage tag 
. Mountain tapir country

Emilio's nature photos on Facebook (There are MANY - check them out! Emilio currently has 68 albums posted!)

The Tapir Preservation Fund and Lee chipped in together to get Emilio a new pair of binoculars. His old ones had endured seven years of extensive use, and he assures me he hopes to get seven more years out of the new pair. Whether they last that long or not remains to be seen. What we know is, the 42-power zoom will reveal many wonders of nature. Stay tuned . . . let's see what they turn up!


Please e-mail your photos and text if you would like to see them on this blog.
This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.
Join WORLD TAPIR DAY on Facebook.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Lowland Tapirs at Chester Zoo, England

All photos on this page copyright Mary Beaird 2007.

Our thanks to Mary for loaning us these photos of Chester Zoo's mom and baby lowland tapir. Chester Zoo has a long history of raising and breeding this species of tapir, allowing fans to see and learn about tapir babies every couple of years.



Please e-mail your photos and text if you would like to see them on this blog.
This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.
Join WORLD TAPIR DAY on Facebook.

Monday, February 14, 2011

How to Make Tapir Tracks

Point Defiance Zoo, Washington
August 26, 2006

In this display, the Point Defiance Zoo shows how they made the tapir tracks used as an educational feature in their pavement. See this post for the tracks.


I left this photo large so when you click on it, you should be able to read the text. Click once, then click again for the full-size image.


Please e-mail your photos and text if you would like to see them on this blog.
This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store 
Join WORLD TAPIR DAY on Facebook.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Tapir Tracks at Point Defiance Zoo

Tacoma, Washington ~ August 27, 2006

Some of the things you find on the pavement are just unique. It almost made my day when I looked down and found tapir tracks embedded in the concrete at Point Defiance (only "almost" because we still had the real tapirs to visit). Zoos are doing a lot more these days to enhance the educational and fun value of the grounds as well as creating interesting habitat for what's inside the enclosures.

Pictured above is a tapir's rear footprint. Since the zoo has Asian tapirs, I'm assuming they took a mold from their Asian tapirs to use when they poured the concrete - and anyway, the footprint of each species has its own conformation. An Asian tapir print might possibly be confused with a Baird's tapir, but probably not with the other two species. The hind foot of every tapir species has three toes, and each toe is encased in its own separate hoof. Interesting, yes? Tapirs have feet that are totally unique in the animal world.


Now it gets even more interesting. Here you see a hind foot (below) with the forefoot superimposed over it, obliterating part of the track. This is a typical footprint pattern of tapirs. Note that the front foot has the prints of four toes. All tapirs have four toes on each front foot, but sometimes the tracks imprint in such a way as to make it appear that there are five toes. The tapir is not the only animal that steps in its own tracks. Check out these prints of big cat footprints, too.

See tapir feet here and tapir footprints here. Thanks, Point Defiance Zoo, for making your pavement so interesting and educational!

Please e-mail your photos and text if you would like to see them on this blog.
This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.
Join WORLD TAPIR DAY on Facebook.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Lowland Tapir Art in Manaus

Manaus, Brazil ~ April 23, 2004

This beautifully-drawn picture of a lowland tapir was hanging in the buffet area of the Tropical Manaus hotel. I didn't catch the name of the artist, unfortunately. It's hard to know whether to call it a painting or a drawing - it employs paint, for sure, but the exquisite quality of the line makes it especially appealing. I'm sorry I wasn't able to get a better photo under the circumstances.

Please e-mail your photos and text if you would like to see them on this blog.
This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.
Join WORLD TAPIR DAY on Facebook.

You might also like

Related Posts with Thumbnails