For a new enclosure this does present a rather sorry sight- I appreciate the time of year it was taken etc but even so I'm surprised Howletts are happy for any of their Malayan Tapirs to have been sent here to live in an enclosure like this, given their own at both parks are far superior.
I *think* that the 1.1 Howletts sent ended up back at Port Lympne. ISIS showed the PL animals jumped from 1.3 at one stage to around 7 animals now. It coincided with the supposed good terms between JAF and the RSCC coming to an end. I'm sure I heard on here that the single animal at the RSCC came since from another UK zoo, though someone please correct me if I'm wrong?
Everytime I've been the Tapir have access to shade - you see the open pen at the back - nice and shady in there!
It's muddy in the photo sure, but then look at British weather, rain, rain, rain, rain! A picture on a day when it's sunny and we've had no rain for a week or two and it wouldn't be muddy!
It's muddy in the photo sure, but then look at British weather, rain, rain, rain, rain! A picture on a day when it's sunny and we've had no rain for a week or two and it wouldn't be muddy!
But that's the whole point - it rains frequently in the UK and they don't appear to have catered for this. More recent photos shows woodchip has since been put down as a substrate - this should have been done before the tapirs went in.
Just because it always rains in the UK does not justify inaction by management.
If woodchip has been put down they have obviously recognised there is a problem and have tried to rectify it. Hindsight is a wonderful thing ... if only it came BEFORE the event!
The thing about good husbandry in zoos, best practice, TAGs, conferences, workshops and informal egroups like zoo biology is that you don't need to rely on hindsight when working with endangered, fairly delicate zoo stock.
However we are getting too caught up on wood chip somehow being the best substrate for these animals, like I said in another post, rainforest ungulates that live near water don't get the same hoof problems in captivity as, say, an oryx. But obviously a sea of mud is unmanageable, becomes compacted, stops grass growing in the spring, then dries out and gets dusty. So yes soft woodchips would be best to cover mud in an enclosure of this size and would retain the most moisture. Peat would just dry out.
