Spectacular, Speckled Tapir Baby!
December 21, 2021
On Saturday December 4, a beautiful Malayan tapir was born in Antwerp ZOO. After thirteen months of pregnancy, mom Nakal's delivery went smoothly and quickly. Malayan tapirs are endangered.
Caretakers determined the calf is a male. The little one is drinking well and already walking around a lot. This is the fourth tapir baby for mother Nakal, and her first son. This is the second offspring for father Baku.
Brown with white dots and stripes
The little tapir does not resemble its parents at all. The skin of the baby is brown with white markings. Just like the ground under a bush in the Malaysian rainforest. The sun seeps through the leaves, leaving a similar shadow on the ground. Perfect camouflage. The parents look more like a boulder with their black fur with a wide white stripe. The young skin will discolour after three to six months, so enjoy the real baby looks now.
seed bombs
The Malayan tapir is the largest tapir species and has Asian roots. The animals communicate by whistling at each other in different ways. Tapirs take care of the greenery in the rainforest in their own way. When eating fruits, they do not digest all seeds equally well. Those half-digested seeds come out naturally again, germinating there and forming a new plant. You can often find the animals in water pools where they bathe and also in fleeing in case of danger.