New Mountain Tapir Figurine

Sergio Sandoval made this adorable and accurate model of a mountain tapir recently. You can read more about it on Sergio's blog. Hopefully, before long this tapir will be coming to the U.S. to visit us in our online animal store, where sales will help benefit research and conservation of endangered tapirs.

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Ronnie Tapir and the Capybara

Dudley Zoo, Dudley, West Midlands, England ~

February 16, 2010

Ronnie (a young lowland tapir) notices something . . .

. . . which happens to be a capybara nibbling on tree bark.

. . . and the capybara notices Ronnie.

Tapirs are curious . . . so let's check it out.

Hmmm. Interesting.

Even more interesting. I wonder what the capybara was eating. I have no idea if baby tapirs learn in the same way as baby bears, but I watched a movie in which it was shown that baby bears learned which foods were edible by smelling mom's breath while she was eating. I wonder if tapirs do the same thing, or if Robbie was just responding to an intersting odor?

It seems quite fascinating to the baby tapir . . .

. . . though less so to the capybara!

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Meena and Baby at Dudley Zoo

Dudley Zoo, Dudley, West Midlands, England ~
 February 16, 2010
Lowland tapirs Meena (the mom) and baby Ronnie

When we were in England last February, it was impossible not to stop in at Dudley Zoo in the West Midlands. I've posted pictures of the incredibly picturesque Dudley Castle, around which the zoo is built, but I have not begun to post my zoo and tapir pictures until today. We had an amazing visit, not only because there was a baby tapir, but thanks to zoo owners, staff, and especially tapir keeper Laura Robbins (whose hand you see here coaxing the tapirs out of their stall), this was one of the pleasantest zoo visits I've had in my many years of visiting zoos. The weather was perfect, the people delightful, and the tapirs, of course, too adorable for words. I took many photos and will be posting them here - hopefully several per week. I'll mix it up a little, but the main theme for the moment will be the tapirs of Dudley Zoo.

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A Tapir that Doesn't Like Water?

I've borrowed this photo from Anthony Long and World Tapir Day on Facebook. To see more of the series and see the interesting (and funny) story, check out World Tapir Day on Facebook. Because it's impossible to make a link directly to the date it was posted, you may have to scroll down the feed to September 23, 2010.

Or . . . here is a link directly to the album.

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TPF Awards $1,000.00 Grant to Emilio Constantino's Conservation Project in the Colombian Orinoco

Photo copyright Emilio Constantino

The Tapir Preservation Fund (TPF) is pleased to announce the winning project for our July-August 2010 call for proposals. The project, "Saving the Orinoco Tapirs in Eastern Colombia," is part of a larger initiative, "Saving Wildlife in the Colombian Orinoco," targeted to protect habitat and numerous threatened wildlife species in the region designated by the project through education, assessment, and the management of private reserves. TPF's "Heidi Frohring Memorial Fund" award of $1,000.00 will help Emilio work toward these goals.

Please read more about this award and the project on the new blog TPF is helping to maintain as part of our contribution to Emilio's work in the Orinoco of Colombia's eastern plains.

Our special thanks to the W.O. and G.L. Frohring Foundation for making this award possible.

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Tapir Tongue

Los Angeles Zoo ~ March 26, 2010

Mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque)

Photos by Annemarie Hasnain

In this unusual photo, the tapir's tongue is rippled like a washboard. I can't do that, can you? The next two photos are also of a mountain tapir at the L.A. Zoo, where this species has been kept since the late 1960s.

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Visit to Dudley Zoo

Click here for the article

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Three Photos from France to Help Raise Awareness for World Tapir Day, 2010

Photos by MJP

(Mr and Msse POTEAUX ~ e Mans, FRANCE)

CERZA Zoo Park in Hermival-les-Vaux, Calvados, Normandy

Three wonderful tapir photos arrived by e-mail today with the message that we could use them on the site to help publicize World Tapir Day, 2010.

Please enjoy the photos and follow the link to learn more about World Tapir Day and take part in the activities and fundraising! And, many thanks to you in Le Mans. . . .

The Poteaux family sponsors these lovely tapirs and visits them often.

Merci infiniment des belles photos!

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