Cute Baby Tapir in Prague Zoo

The male of the South American tapir was born directly in the outside enclosure. Photo: Petr Hamerník, Prague Zoo

“We had been awaiting the birth of the baby tapir for several weeks, so finally it happened,“ the Director of Prague Zoo Miroslav Bobek said. “The baby tapir was born on Tuesday May 19 in the afternoon. It is a male and it is well. Both parents behave perfectly.“

Ivana gave birth in the outside enclosure after approximately a thirteen-month long pregnancy. The delivery went quickly and without complications, but the keepers had then to quickly move the mother and the baby inside, due to relatively low temperatures.

“Once inside, Ivana licked her baby and as early as about four o’clock in the afternoon they were laying together on the straw. We couldn’t observe feeding, as the female immediately reacted to the presence of keepers by standing up. Ivana has already raised two offspring and it seems that the new born baby is healthy and full of life,“ Pavel Brandl, mammal curator in Prague Zoo added. The keepers decided not to separate Tex from the mother and the baby. “Tex is very much attached to Ivana, therefore we decided to keep them together. He has been behaving in a very calm way towards the baby since the very beginning,“ Pavel Brandl said.

Ivana was born on 7th March 2000 in Jihlava Zoo and she came to Prague in 2004, where she formed a breeding couple with Christian. In 2006 Christian became father to the first South American Tapir born in Prague Zoo. In 2011, Ivana was paired with Tex and Christian was moved to Jihlava Zoo. Tex was born on 14th September 2003 in the USA, this is why he is unique for European breeding. South American Tapirs were bred in Prague Zoo between 1950 - 1957, and then only after 2004. All the reared young are Ivana´s descendants.

Tapirs are odd-toed ungulates, although they have four toes on their forefeet and three toes on their rear feet. The most conspicuous feature is their prolonged upper lip and nostrils which form something like a short trunk. Tapirs use it in a similar way to elephants – to pick plants to eat, as an organ of fine olfaction and to breathe in water or moorland.