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Tapir makes public debut!



Our little female tapir calf, born July 3, made her unofficial public debut with her mother today in the Tropical Asia exhibit. Now weighing in at a hefty 61 pounds, the baby stuck close to her mom, but soon ventured up to the glass viewing area to the delight of zoo visitors (and staff, too!).


With the nicer weather, we hope to have her out daily (weather permitting, of course). Tomorrow she will hopefully be on public view with her mom beginning around noon.

You'll notice the spots and stripes on her--very different from the black with white "belt" on the adults. This is used as camouflage---much like the spots on a deer fawn---until they start to fade and turn black and white similar to their parents. Malayan tapirs are endangered in their range due to hunting and habitat loss.

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