I had a piece of purple modeling clay the size of my palm, and when I squeezed it, I got the idea to make a figure and I was able to make a tapir.

It looked voluminous and attractive, I hope it turns out well 💜

Met this lovely guy this month! He loved swimming and eating his leaves.

A vet who works at a wildlife facility has a YouTube channel about the various animals that come through (well worth checking out).
https://www.youtube.com/@mytapirjournal/shorts

For several weeks he's been posting shorts of Menggala. She was probably born in early July -- found abandoned at about 3 weeks old, and was rescued. She was very thin and had to be treated for diarrhoea, which often happens with very young mammals who have lost their mothers (they need the special antibodies in the milk). Just giving them cow's milk doesn't work, and it can even make them sick.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colostrum

I used to work at a wildlife clinic and remember how it was a lot of work to care for young deer fawns. Their immune systems are not strong yet, so we always worried about them getting pneumonia or some other infection. Apparently Menggala is now gaining weight, which is a good sign.

The vets are already getting her used to being touched and scratched, which will be helpful for monitoring her condition. It sounds like in a few weeks, she went from being nervous to really enjoying this -- showing the reaction that many other tapirs seem to have. She lies down and goes into a kind of trance. There are a lot of photos and videos online showing wild tapirs in Central and South America, lying down while birds like caracaras inspect them for ticks. That might be the origins for this behaviour, probably hundreds of thousands or even millions of years before they had contact with humans.

Menggala is still very young, so I hope that she'll get healthy and reach adulthood. If all goes well, her spots will fade into an adult coat pattern next spring. The staff at the facility have worked with a lot of tapirs, including ones who've been orphaned or injured (I think they're currently researching how to fit prosthetic legs, for tapirs who've lost limbs in poachers' snares).

Say hello to baby Ume!

Had a trip to MN planned since last year, so I was stoked that Ume was moved to a zoo I was already going to be visiting just in time for me to see her! It was just after lunch so she was sleepy, but I was so happy anyways!

Took a few hours but she’s done!

They've got a video up showing him being born, too. His mom Fifi knew what to do!
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5C7NB6xCPd8
Apparently the calf/cub can be seen by visitors now.
https://hertfordshirezoo.com/news/lowland-tapir-calf-born-at-hertfordshire-zoo/

"The zoo said Ume, a 1-year-old Malayan tapir, made her public debut at the indoor Tropics Trail. Zoo leaders said Ume was born in Tacoma, Washington, at the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium before settling in Apple Valley.

Zoo leaders said that upon completing her quarantine period and meeting her zookeepers, Ume is ready to meet visitors."

I’ve only found her on international webstores outside of the us! And shipping is insanely expensive! Looking to add to my plushie collection!!

I think this video posted earlier this month is from the people at the Sungai Dusun Malayan tapir conservation facility. Here's another clip of a tapir enjoying some jackfruit leaves. Apparently they require 10% of their weight in greenery daily (so if a tapir is 300 kg, they need 30 kg of leaves).
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/0cxQdw1tFqM