A Tapir Gallery Online Reprint

TPF News header
Vol. 4, No. 4 ~ April 2001                         A publication of the Tapir Preservation Fund ~ Palisade, Colorado, USA


Challenge grant for Emilio

Paul Beckham’s challenge to raise $1,000 for Emilio Constantino in Colombia has nearly been met thanks to your generous contributions. So far, we've got $455 towards the $500 challenge. When we reach $500, Paul will match it. Emilio ventures into rugged and dangerous areas of war-torn Colombia to assess tapir populations and work with local private reserves. This particular $1,000 will probably be spent to assess the tiny population of Baird’s tapirs near the Panama border. Towards the end of February, Emilio reported that the first Baird’s tapir in over 20 years had been seen in one of the border locations.


And some firehouses have tapirs

Quinn Henson, obviously a firefighter, ordered a black-and-white plush tapir (“Sherman”) from our online gift shop. His letter of thanks makes us wish he'd explained further: "Thanks for getting back to me so soon. Sherman should enjoy the firehouse. Some departments have dalmations, we have a tapir."


TPF becoming permanent

When we received federal nonprofit status in 1998, it was on a start-up basis. We filed for permanent nonprofit status in March. That meant filing financial reports for which we had to transfer the remainder of our paper files onto disk. We’ve finished the part needed for filing with the IRS, but we’re still catching up to current. That's why, for the moment, other work has gone on hold. The work being delayed includes a lot of Web updates, and "Tapir Conservation," the newsletter of the IUCN/SSC Tapir Specialist Group. We'd intended to publish it late in 2000, but it will be delayed until late Spring this year. For those who have paid subscriptions, you'll still get the same number of issues for your money. Thanks for your patience.


Tapirs in books and music . . .

. . . a continuing series

Mike Souza writes that a recent issue of SPIN magazine includes tapirs: "[In the issue with] rap group OutKast on the cover, the back page, called End Notes I believe, has some seemingly incoherent ramblings, one of which says ‘Tapirs are cool.’ or something to that effect. There is also a picture of a Malayan tapir included, so you can add this recent and unlikely appearance in SPIN magazine to the list of tapirs in print."

Tapirs also appear in two more collections of music besides the albums from Melt Banana and Ed Sanders, which we discussed in our February issue:

The album Bardo Pond, from Amanita, includes "Tapir Song."

Amazonian Soundscape, from the Wayapi of Guiana, includes "Les Amantes Du Tapir, Recit Et Chant." Running that title through an automatic translator gives us "Amantes of Tapir, Recit and Chant," which doesn't help. Can anyone translate it?


Georgetown Zoo revisited

Exactly three years ago, the Tapir Preservation Fund began its Club Tapir program. One of the projects in our now-familiar monthly list of six was the tapir enclosure at the zoo in Georgetown, Guyana. Tapir fans around the world responded. The Georgetown tapirs won the vote four times in 1998 and once in 1999, for a total of $1465 contributed to the project.

Donna J. Sheppard, Wildlife Educator from the Conservation Outreach Department of the Calgary Zoo, reports that the fhe first thing done was to repair the fence. Next, the new shelter was built. An old one at the back of the exhibit had a cement floor (not the best for tapirs and other hooved animals) and was so far from the public that the tapirs could not be seen if they went inside. The pool is now under construction. Donna will be returning to the zoo soon for a visit. When she comes back to Canada in mid-May, she’ll send us another report along with (she hopes) some more photos. Donna wrote, “Along with shots of the new shade structure, I have sent you a couple of pictures of us darting and transfering the tapir mom and son out of the to-be-renovated enclosure. My favorite is the picture with the keeper giving the young male a shower to distract him while the vet (in the background) sneaks up and gives him a shot in the backside! As you can see, the transfer took a lot of hands! The Guyana Zoo doesn't have transfer cages etc. to assist in a procedure such as this. As a result, just moving two huge animals is [an] exercise and big achievement.”

The Zoo Conservation Outreach Group (ZCOG) under the Executive Directorship of Daniel Hilliard donated $1,000 to the project. (ZCOG is a member of AZA in the "Conservation Partner" category.) Karl Kranz, Senior Vice-President of Animal Affairs for the Philadelphia Zoo not only found the project for us, but coordinated efforts to assist the Georgetown Zoo in its renovations. Our thanks to all involved in this successful effort, and thanks to Donna Sheppard for her update and the photos. We all appreciate that the Georgetown Zoo has chosen to keep tapirs (native to Guyana) to help educate the public about these wonderful and little-appreciated animals.


Shade building 1
With this new shelter, the tapirs at the Georgetown Zoo will have shade during midday hours.
The shelter is near enough to the public that the tapirs can now be seen at all hours of the day.
Photo © 2001 Donna J. Sheppard


Diverting attention
One of the tapirs enjoys a shower given by his keeper
while the vet takes the opportunity to sneak up with an injection.
Photo © 2001 Donna J. Sheppard


Moving anesthetized tapir
Above, a heavy lowland tapir under anesthesia is moved so the enclosure can be renovated.
Below, humans take advantage of the new shade building before the tapirs move in.
Photos © 2001 Donna J. Sheppard


Humans enjoy the shade of the tapirs' new building



Tapir Symposium info and registration now online

Phil Schaeffer of Caligo Ventures, one of the planners for the First International Tapir Symposium, 2001, has announced that his web site is up and running. You can learn more about the symposium and register through the Web site. You can also print forms from the site and register by mail. Please visit: http://www.caligo.com/tapir/



Editors:
Sheryl Todd, tapir@tapirback.com
Kate Wilson, kmwilson@mindspring.com



Club Tapir winners for March 2001

1st place: Simon Bolivar Zoo Baird’s Tapir Exhibit, San Jose, Costa Rica

This month Club Tapir collected a total of $610. Although this did not continue our record-breaking streak for Club Tapir itself, we had additional donations of $240 from this month’s mailing earmarked for Paul Beckham’s challenge grant for Emilio Constantino (see TPF News). Our first-place Club Tapir winner for March (Simon Bolivar Zoo) will receive $488. This is a great start toward much-needed improvements in the zoo’s Baird’s tapir exhibit. Two plans are possible. One is to upgrade the old exhibit, and another is to build a new one. In either case, the tapir will have a nice, new home, and if there is enough space, a mate may be on the way. Plans will depend in part on how much money can be raised, and this is our last month to do it. A construction team from the Houston Zoo will go to San Jose, Costa Rica, this summer to help the zoo build the best exhibit they can for the funds they’ll have to work with.

2nd place: First International Tapir Symposium, 2001

Club Tapir’s second-place winner this month is the First Internation Tapir Symposium, 2001, to be held November 3-8 in San Jose, Costa Rica. Our Club Tapir contribution this month is $122, which brings Club Tapir’s total contribution so far to $662. These funds will be used to bring conference participants to Costa Rica from tapir range countries and to help pay their expenses for the symposium. Airfares will of course vary, but the conference cost (if registered before July 31, 2001) is $615 per person. After July 31, the rate becomes $650 per person. These prices include: five nights hotel accommodations at Hotel Corobicí; opening night reception and final banquet dinner; session coffee breaks; program and Tapir Symposium Resource Guide; post conference proceedings; transportation to and from airport; a one-day mid-conference field trip (there are two to choose from); buffet breakfasts; tips for bellboys and maids; tips at the airport; taxes and service charge. Costa Rican nationals who live in the country will pay $215 before July 31, and students with a current student registration card will pay $75 to attend the conference, but this price does not include the opening night reception and final banquet dinner, conference field trip, lodging or meals.

See Caligo Ventures’ Web site for details and registration: http://www.caligo.com/tapir/


Club Tapir Donor List for March, 2001

Masayuki Adachi, Japan
Kevin & Janet Anderson, USA
Gilia Angell, USA
Michelle & Scott Babcock, USA
Jo Ann & Cemil Bayrakci, USA
Corinna Bechko & Gabriel Hardman, USA
Barbara S. Boon, USA
Alex Cárdenas, Panamá
Oliver Cartwright, England
Steve Cremer, USA
Sean Culpan, Scotland
Sharon Danielsen, USA
Gary Davis, USA
Nicola DeBolt, USA
James Doss-Gollin, USA
Irma and Guenter Drewnitzki, Germany
Karin Drewnitzki, USA/Germany
Ellen Dwight & Ken Aron, USA
Rachel T. Emmer, USA
Kevin Flesher, USA
Heidi Frohring, USA
Della M. Garell, USA
Jennifer Gerstin, USA
Alice Gilley, USA
Greater Cleveland Chapter, AAZK, USA
Lisa Green, USA
Chrissi Hadley, USA
Shannon Hiemstra, USA
Dana Hoffman, USA
Stephan Hunziker, Switzerland
Akira Ito, Japan
Ann Iverson-Dawson, USA
Audrey Jakab, USA
Sally & Harvey James, England
Gernot Janda, Austria
Donald Janssen, USA
Kathy Knight, England
Dawn Kravagna, USA
Carol Langford, USA
Charlotte Lee, USA
Dean Leverett, England
Rob Lyman & Christine Kim, USA
Andy Markley, USA
Amy Marshall, USA
Patricia Medici, Brazil
Dennis Milam, USA
Derek Mix, USA
Carla Moceri, USA
James Nelson, USA
Judith Norton, USA
James Powell, USA
Justine Powell, Australia
Rose M. Ready & Hattiesburg Zoo, USA
Carol & Mark Reid, Canada
Ayéssa Rourke, USA
Hannah & Philip Schein, USA
Peggy Shaver, USA
Wendy Skriver, USA
Timothy Somers, USA
Tamsin Spargo, England
Michele Stansbury, USA
Lauren Svitil, USA
Alex & Susan Sze, USA
Gary & Beth Todd, USA
E.V. Todd, USA
Ted and Lois Todd, USA
Eric Truelson, USA
Marguerite H. Tucker, USA
Elizabeth Weaver, USA
Jill Wheeler, USA
Kate Wilson, USA
Sally Woodcock, England
Woodland Park Zoo Asian Forest Volunteers, USA
Chantal Wright, USA
Wendy Zhang, USA


All tapirs are endangered species.
Saving tapirs helps save the rainforest.


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