Not yet a month old, San Diego Zoo's newest Malayan tapir is starting to nibble on solid food already. The tapir has been named "Tembikai" which means "watermelon" in Malay. The Malayan tapir is an endangered species, so this birth will help conservation research efforts. It is also significant because the mother, Chantek, is 25 years old, which is quite old for a mama tapir but despite this Tembikai is doing well. He weighed 13 pounds at birth on Jan. 29th and is now 30 pounds.
Photo credit Ken Bohn / San Diego Zoo
For now, baby tapir and mom are living behind the scenes.
