  SPECIES SURVIVAL COMMISSION |
Tapir Conservation
The Newsletter of the IUCN/SSC Tapir Specialist Group
Number 7, October 1997
See Table of Contents
News briefs
The last mountain tapir in Europe
Anja, the last mountain tapir (T. pinchaque) in Europe was held in the Wilhelma Zoo in Stuttgart, Germany, until she was euthanized on 29 January 1997. She was at least 27 years old, establishing the record for this species in captivity. This leaves only five known captive T. pinchaque, all belonging to the Los Angeles Zoo. Three (2.1) are on loan to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA. The Colorado Springs animals are all young, and it is hoped that they will breed. However, all three are siblings. The two tapirs remaining at Los Angeles (a female aged 9 and a male aged 14) are half-siblings. Mountain tapirs can no longer be brought out of their countries of origin, and the future for captive breeding of this species does not look bright. The 22 mountain tapirs bred from the Los Angeles animals (18 at Los Angeles, 4 at San Diego) are all derived from one original pair brought from Ecuador in 1967 and 1969. There has been some discussion about a zoo in Quito which plans to maintain and breed T. pinchaque, but no confirmation of this exists.
Anja never produced offspring. She was the first mountain tapir acquired by the Wilhelma Zoo, arriving 8 May 1969 along with a male which died on 11 November of the same year. Both had been sent by the dealer Martin Stummer of Quito, Ecuador. He sent another male which arrived 7 May 1970, but died after 11 days.
On 8 April 1971, Wilhelma received a third male, Boris. He was captured on 2 August 1970 and was nearly fully grown when he arrived at the zoo. He lived there for 21 years, 9 months, until 14 January 1993, when he was euthanized; he holds the third longest record for the species in captivity. A wild-born male at Los Angeles lived about 24 years.
On 25 April 1978, the Lepzig Zoo sent their female, Claudia, to Wilhelma, where she lived until 4 June 1981. Although Boris mated regularly with both Anja and Claudia, neither female became pregnant. When a sperm sample from Boris, taken during copulation, was examined under a microscope, it appeared that his sperm were fewer and less motile than might be expected. However, only a partial ejaculate was obtained, and as there was no chance to compare this sample to ejaculate from another tapir, the veterinarian could only make the presumption that Boris was infertile.
There were plans to exchange Boris for another male from a U.S. zoo, but due to a herpes virus infection in the Wilhelma tapirs, the transfer was not attempted. After Boris' death, his testes were sent for histological examination, and were found to be inactive. At his age, this was no surprise to the zoo.
After Boris' death the Los Angeles Zoo offered to send a five-year-old captive born male to Wilhelma. Even though Anja was at least 25 years old, It was considered to be worth a trial. Transport was arranged for 14 September 1994. The male had been crate-trained to avoid stress, and was not immobilized. Zoo officials in Los Angeles and Stuttgart were stunned and saddened when the tapir died on his way from the Los Angeles Zoo to the airport.
Information from the Wilhelma Zoo supplied by
Dr. Marianne Holtkötter
Curator of Mammals
Wilhelma Zoo
Posfach 510227, 70342 Stuttgart
Germany
Fax (0711) 5402-222
Mountain tapir birth
As the newsletter goes to press, it was learned that the pair of T. pinchaque at the Los Angeles Zoo has produced its first offspring, number 23 for the zoo. The female was born 8 August 1997 and was doing well at last report.
Submitted by
Christopher M. Anderson
cma@hss.caltech.edu
SSP for tapirs?
No official AZA Species Survival Plan (SSP) exists for any species of tapir in the United States, although some zoos display signs indicating their tapirs' participation in an SSP. According to Rick Barongi, Chair of the Tapir TAG (page 20), management decisions are more effectively handled by the TAG. In this way, he says, a balance can be maintained in which, for instance, no species is over-bred to the detriment of other species. Management of T. bairdii is handled by Lewis Greene of the Prospect Park Zoo, New York, and of T. indicus by Rick Barongi.
Malayan tapirs at the Adelaide Zoo
Based partly on their excellent breeding success with Brazilian tapirs, the Adelaide Zoo, South Australia, was selected as home for a male Malayan tapir named Sulong. Once he is settled in, they expect to obtain a female.
Tapirs in Colombian zoos
Javier Sarria, veterinary student at the National University of Colombia, reports the following T. terrestris in Colombian zoos. He says this is not a complete report, but represents information he gathered in the course of his genetic studies:
ZOO
Santa Cruz: 3.3
Jaime Duque: 1.0
Piscilago: 1.1
Santa Fe: 4.2
Matecaña: 1?.2?
Cali: 3.2
Leticia: 1?.1?
Javier Sarria
National University of Colombia
jasarrip@bachue.usc.unal.edu.co
Breeding plan successful at Samut Prakan Zoo, Thailand
Staff at the Samut Prakan Crocodile Farm and Zoo have pronounced their breeding plan for the Malayan tapir a success after their second birth. It occurred on 15 July 1997.
At 22 days, the female calf was healthy, weighed about 20 kg, and was eating leaves alongside her mother. Her brother, Nong Khai (Brother Egg), had arrived two years earlier, on 9 September 1995. He had recently been separated from the mother.
According to Dr. Panya Youngprapakorn, the farm's deputy managing director, the program owed much to Dusit Zoo. The breeding program at Dusit served as a model for Samut Prakan. Four years ago, Dusit had exchanged its male for one of the three females at Samut Prakan. The Samut Prakan female, 10-year-old Pui, and Den, the young male from Dusit, hit it off immediately, although there was occasionally some biting. A year later - August 1994- they mated.
"Nong Pui is very protective of her baby," says Dr. Panya. "When we try to get close to her, she will scream as a warning. This behaviour will go on for another three months."
After the arrival of the male calf, an attempt to match the sire with a five-year-old female called Lily produced no results. They got along, but Den showed no interest in mating. However, nine months after parturition, Pui again mated with Den, producing the second offspring.
Asked what put tapirs on the endangered species list, Dr. Panya cited deforestation as the main reason, followed by illegal trade in wildlife. People take baby tapirs for pets, but they don't know how to care for them, and they usually die.
Panya estimated that there are about 100 tapirs left in Thailand. "That's just an estimate because nobody has seen them that much. But one thing for sure, the situation is alarming."
(In this article, the range of T. indicus is given as, "Asia: ranging from Tanaosri Range to Sumatra.")
Edited from Bangkok Post online
[The URL originally published is out of date.]
Uamdao Noikorn
8 September 1997
Training tapirs at the Louisville Zoo
by Jane Herndon
"It's a pig. No, it's an anteater!" A common refrain heard whenever one of our 1.1 Malayan tapirs (Tapirus indicus) is on exhibit. The new "Islands" exhibit opened at the Louisville Zoo in Spring 1996 featuring orangutans, siamangs, Sumatran tiger, babirusa, and Malayan tapirs. Three exhibits flank one side of an Indonesian village with a stream - the lifeline which brings all these beings together - running through each one. This unique exhibit design allows us (Keepers/Trainers) the opportunity to rotate the five species through three outdoor exhibits, simulating the natural activity around a water source, and one indoor exhibit. Which animal we move to which habitat is random as is the time of day and the duration of stay. When the animals are not in one of the habitats they are in a holding building which ls attached via a system of on grade transfer chutes which includes up to four sets of stairs. In addition, there are overhead transfer options for the tiger and primates. In order for the rotation to be successful we require full cooperation from our charges. This is achieved through behavioral training using positive reinforcement.
Training helps us reach several goals. It gives us another tool to enrich the lives of the animals under our care and, as mentioned earlier, cooperation is important to our daily operations, but perhaps the most significant goals are reached in the area of providing better husbandry and health care. Initially the process was slow going, but by making each training session positive and upbeat the learning began. To date, both tapirs have been trained to sit, lie down, roll over, hold positions and do foot lifts. With these behaviors we are able to perform a basic physical check daily and this enables us to detect ailments in the earliest stages. Other behaviors such as back-up, move up (heel position) and target can be used for problem solving. The final known behavior, but one which is most essential from day to day, is the ability for the tapirs to walk up and down stairs. We achieved this final behavior using two different methods. One trainer stood on the steps and reinforced "Chip," the male, with a favorite food item each time he made a positive move toward going down the stairs. At first he was reinforced for looking down the stairs, then for eating food off the step, then he was jack-potted for stepping off onto the first step.
Each successive step was achieved in the same manner. Also during this time he learned to back up the stairs. A second trainer worked with our female, "Sarah." Small pieces of apple were floated in the indoor pool for Sarah to eat. After a few days, one of the stairwells was filled with water to the top step and again apples were dropped into the water. She stepped into the water and received her reinforcement. Each day the stairwell was filled with less water until no water was added at all. Both trainers reached their goal in six weeks.
At this time we are working on getting the tapirs to urinate on command for collection, and open mouth presentation for an oral exam. In the future we plan to work on getting temperatures and drawing blood. In order to achieve success, a level of trust must be reached between the trainer and the tapirs. The need for trust becomes even more evident when we ask the animals to do a behavior that is uncomfortable for them. Perhaps one of the best examples occurred in January of this year when Chip developed an abscess on his jaw. A slight swelling below his eye was noticed during a daily check. By the next moming the entire left side of his face was swollen. The veterinarian was able to briefly examine the swollen area while Chip sat in a holding position with the trainer feeding him (whenever possible, we will have the vet staff stand next to the trainer during a hand feeding so their presence during a medical situation will not be totally foreign). Within the next few days the abscess became evident. With Chip lying down sternally and the trainer scratching him, the veterinarian was able to extract fluid from the abscess for testing. This was achieved with little reaction from Chip. A few days later the decision to lance the abscess was made. This time the trainer cued Chip to lie down and roll over. While the trainer was scratching Chip into a trance-like state, the veterinarian cleaned the area and quickly lanced the abscess. Chip's response was somewhat delayed, but his movement to a standing position was quick nonetheless. The trainer cued the behaviors to lie down and roll over again, Chip responded with only a slight hesitation and he was jack-potted with the rest of his produce. Over the course of the next week, using essentially the same techniques, we were able to keep the wound area clean until it healed.
Chip and Sarah have become a big hit with our guests. When we train the tapirs in the habitats the visitors become drawn in and the whole experience becomes more personal for them. This provides a great opportunity (after the session) to educate the public on the plight of tapirs in the wild. The Tapir Talk Forum on the Internet has been a great resource. Adults are intrigued to hear up-to-date infomation about work going on right now in-situ. Many school children are choosing to do research papers on tapirs and are touched when they hear about fellow students in Bogotá, Colombia, raising money to help save these endangered creatures. Education and information are two of our strongest allies in the fight to save the tapir from extinction. We have taken one step closer when, before we get the chance to speak, the reply comes from a child, "No, Mom! It's a tapir!"
Jane Herndon
Trainer/Keeper II, Islands Area
Louisville Zoo
falco@iglou.com
Bob Herndon's "Unofficial" Louisville Zoo Home Page
Baird's tapir survey
A survey of Baird's tapirs in captivity was initiated in April 1997 by Sheryl Todd and Sharon Matola. Records of animals kept currently and historically were requested, and questions on breeding were asked. Replies are still coming in. A report will be announced in the next edition of Tapir Conservation.
T. bairdii born in Japan
Japan's first Baird's tapir was born at the Kanazawa Zoological Gardens of Yokohama on 21 June 1995. A male, the infant was successfully reared and is doing well. Details will be included in the Baird's tapir survey mentioned above.
Studbooks
BAIRD'S TAPIR (Tapirus bairdii)
International
Mike Dee
Los Angeles Zoo
5333 Zoo Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90027 USA
Phone (213) 666-4650
Fax (213) 662-9786
Mike Crotty, keeper of this book, passed away in October, 1997.
Mesoamerican Regional
Sharon Matola
Belize Zoo
P.O. Box 1787
Belize City, Belize, Central America
BelizeZoo@btl.net
Phone 501-081-3004
Fax 501-081-3004
At a recent AMAZOO meeting in San Jose, Costa Rica, the Belize Zoo was asked to keep the new Mesoamerican Regional Studbook for Baird's tapir.
LOWLAND TAPIR (Tapirus terrestris)
European/British Regional
Dr. Franck Haelewyn
Parc Zoologique de Lille
Av. Mathias Delobel
59800 Lille, France
Fax +33 2057 3808
Recently expanded from British only. Records from European zoos have been requested.
North, Central and South America
John Grameri, Lincoln Park Zoo
Diana Weinhardt, Houston Zoo
Is being transferred from Lincoln Park to Houston. Has not been published.
MOUNTAIN TAPIR (Tapirus pinchaque)
No studbook.
MALAYAN TAPIR (Tapirus indicus)
International
Rick Barongi
Disney's Animal Kingdom
P.O. Box 10,000
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-1000
Phone (407) 939-2452
Fax (407) 939-6386
rbarongi@aol.com
European/British Regional
Nürnberg Zoo
Regional
Mr. Kinoshita
Fukuoka Zoological and Botanical Gardens
1-1 Minamikoen
Chuo-ku, Fukuoka, 810 Japan
CONTACTS
Chair: Patrícia Medici
Deputy Chair: Sheryl Todd
This page is hosted by The Tapir Gallery
Webmaster: tapir@tapirback.com