The Belfast Zoo welcomed a new baby Malayan tapir on June 22nd. Tapirs may look like pigs with mini elephant trunks but they are actually most closely related to horses and rhinoceroses. The zoo is currently having a naming contest for the little girl. May we suggest Schnozzy or Schnozzella?
Schnozzella does her best "Blue Steel"
Name that Tapir?
A Malayan tapir is born in Belfast Zoo and you have the opportunity to name and meet the long nosed and endangered species. If your suggested name is chosen by a panel of zoo keepers and curators you will meet the latest arrival to the zoo.
Malayan tapirs are very rare, with fewer than 50 in European zoos, and a global zoo population of about 150 animals. While scientists believe there are less than 3000 left in the wild, European zoos are establishing a sustainable captive population. They are classified as endangered on the IUCN Red List 2009 and listed on CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
Habitat destruction is the predominant threat, as a result of land in South East Asia being cleared for human settlement and agriculture, and rivers being dammed and land flooded for hydroelectric development.
Andrew Hope, Curator, said, “We are delighted about the birth. Our latest addition to the zoo is a huge achievement for the breeding programme. They are such an endangered animal and every birth is vital to sustaining a captive population. The competition is a great chance for someone to name our tapir. The chosen name will stay with the animal for life and is registered on the International Species Information System, the world standard for zoological data collection that we use to record all information about our animals”.
In that lighting, Schnozzella is really, really, ridiculously good-looking.
Posted by: Nina | July 15, 2009 at 12:42 PM
She looks like a "Rhonda" to me.
Posted by: ElPico | July 15, 2009 at 04:55 PM
To e she looks like a Diva...
Posted by: Holy Cuteness | July 15, 2009 at 08:50 PM
How about Sulita? It's Malay for 'rare' with a Romance language feminine suffix.
Posted by: Brook | July 16, 2009 at 03:45 AM
Too bad the stripes and spots dissappear when it grows up.
Posted by: Ed | July 16, 2009 at 03:58 AM
Lets name him Reddit
Posted by: jjrocco | July 16, 2009 at 10:50 AM
Rihanna! No, even better, Obama!
Posted by: JR | July 16, 2009 at 05:31 PM
I love seeing animals like these at the Zoo -- animals whose babies are very different-looking than the adults. If you've ever seen a Colobus monkey, they are similar.
Allen Nyhuis, Coauthor: America's Best Zoos
Posted by: Americas Best Zoos author | July 18, 2009 at 01:02 PM
We get a lot of tapirs here on ZooBorns, don't we? Not that it's a bad thing, far from it. Love her little hoves.
Posted by: Joel Svensson | July 19, 2009 at 10:26 AM
i think the name should be Zuri it is swahili for beautiful and that to some people be an oximoron but if you look at it, it really is a beautiful animal
Posted by: Dez | July 20, 2009 at 03:50 PM
I think they should keep it simple -- her name should be "Nosy."
Posted by: Christi McDonald | July 20, 2009 at 03:57 PM
i think pintas
Posted by: liliana | July 26, 2009 at 01:19 PM
I think her name should be ether Selena or Maxi. So cute.
Araya
Posted by: Araya | August 04, 2009 at 05:06 PM
hey
Posted by: bryan | December 19, 2009 at 12:40 PM