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Saturday with the
mountain tapirs at the
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

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On Saturday, September 21, 1996, Marco and I (Sheryl) spent the afternoon watching and photographing two male mountain tapirs in the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Their third mountain tapir, a female named Carlotta, was not out with the males, and we didn't get a chance to see her. We were told by a zoo staff member that the group is not let outdoors together because the males, Carlos and Sandia, are too rough on Carlotta, and she's still too young for breeding.

Mountain tapirs (Tapirus pinchaque) must be one of the rarest mammals in zoos. As of August, 2000, the Los Angeles Zoo has four, Colorado Springs has one, and Cincinnati has a pair.

Raising head

It was a beautiful fall day, the weather was cool, but the bright sun was warm at 7,000 feet elevation. When we arrived, the tapirs were doing one of the things tapirs do best - napping. This photo shows one of the more active periods during their nap: one was raising his head and sniffing.

Yawning	Standing up

A bit later, the other tapir yawned a couple of times, and later still, both of them stood up.

Sniffing geese

Then it was nap time again, until clouds covered the sun. Almost instantly, the tapirs grew active. One took a swim and became interested in the two bar-headed geese that share the enclosure. Tapirs are always curious about their surroundings; this one tries to sniff the geese, which left the scene shortly after the picture was taken.

Resting head

Although the female tapir isn't old enough to breed, these males both exhibited interest in sex, and sexual horseplay ensued when the second tapir entered the water (tapirs have been known to mate both in the water and on land). Here, one male rests his head on the other's back. During actual mating, this would be a prelude to mounting. Shortly after Marco shot this photo, the passive tapir dashed out of the pond, followed by the more active one.

Galloping

In another corner of their yard, they continued the chase. Here, you can see one of them walking (having trotted away from the other), and the second tapir at a gallop, with both back feet clearing the ground at the same time, as you can see from the shadow.

The mountain tapirs are seriously endangered in the wild.