Rare tapir born in Ramat Gan safari

A male Brazilian tapir was born in the Ramat Gan Safari Park on Saturday, endowing the zoo with a new, well-endowed resident.

The baby tapir is said to be doing well and receiving care and attention from both his mother, and elder sister. However, father Meir, is jealous of the new arrival and is being kept in a separate enclosure until he gets used to the change.

Keepers suspected that mother ‘Passiflora’ was reaching the end of her 13-month long pregnancy after she became antsy and irritable around her mate. Staff separated the two so that the expecting mother would be undisturbed and she finally gave birth on Saturday afternoon.

The as yet unnamed baby tapir joined his elder sister ‘Papaya’ at the safari park near Tel Aviv.

According to a report on Ynet, keepers were quickly able to identify the sex of the newborn tapir due to his prominent male organ, a well-known and sometimes alarming feature of the species.

Brazilian tapirs are classified as a vulnerable species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and each successful birth in captivity is celebrated. As they mature, tapirs lose the white stripes they are born with and become dark brown.