Taipei City Zoo yesterday announced that the zoo’s Malayan tapir calf celebrated its one-month birthday yesterday, having grown rapidly from 8.42kg at birth to 27kg, and with markings that are still changing.
It said that although the tapir, named Mosu (貘樹), and its mother, Maya (馬雅) have a good relationship, they are often seen searching for each other during their outdoor display periods at 10:30am and 3:30pm every day.
A zookeeper was shocked to see Mosu looking for Maya on shore during one of its outdoor excursions, saying the animal jumped into the water when it saw its mother swimming.
Photo: CNA
The episode prompted a decision to add more water to the pool to prevent Mosu from getting hurt.
Zookeepers said that once Mosu was shivering with cold on shore after swimming and was continuously calling out to Maya, who was sitting under a small waterfall. Maya tried to climb ashore where the water was 1.8m deep, but was only able to reach Mosu when zookeepers guided it.
A white-handed gibbon attended Mosu’s one-month party yesterday, the zoo said.
It saw Mosu from a tree and climbed down to touch the tapir, the zoo said, adding that the zookeepers gave Maya an exceptionally big meal yesterday.
The pair of tapirs can be seen for about one hour during the outdoor display periods, it added.
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