There are only about 3,000 Malayan tapirs left in the world, which are related to both horses and rhinos.Margery and Betong are delighted parents of Rony, who was born after a staggering 391 days of pregnancy and was given the name by a public vote. Due to his species’ listing on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of ᴛʜʀᴇᴀᴛened Species, his birth was celebrated by environmentalists all over the world.
We have ʟᴏsᴛ half of the Malayan tapir population worldwide during the past 40 years, mostly as a result of illegal logging, mass deforestation, and poaching. It’s great to hear the small, spotted Malayan tapir feet again for only the second time in the zoo’s lengthy history, according to team manager Sarah Roffe.
Margery, the mother, is excellent with the child. She pays ᴄʟᴏsᴇ attention to him, but she also gives him room to wander and settle in. The priceless calf is yet another significant boost for the global breeding program, which aims to prevent the extinction of the already ᴇɴᴅᴀɴɢᴇʀed species.
The recent decline in the number of Malayan tapirs in the wild is mostly attributable to the widespread conversion of their forest habitat to palm oil plantations. Tapirs are born with a very unusual coat that is a combination of spots and stripes, primarily used for camouflage. The pattern will gradually transform into the gorgeous black and wʜɪᴛe pattern you see on their parents throughout the course of the first six months of their existence.
Let’s take a look at Tapir Rony in the video below:
Source: Chester Zoo
