Only 3,000 Malayan tapirs, which are linked to both horses and rhinoceroses, are still living today. Rony, who was born after a stunning 391 days of pregnancy and was given the name by a popular vote, is the happy child of Margery and Betong.
Environmentalists all over the world welcomed his birth because his species is included on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Endangered Species.
We have ʟᴏsᴛ half of the Malayan tapir population worldwide during the past 40 years, mostly as a result of illegal logging, mass deforestation, and poaching. It’s great to hear the small, spotted Malayan tapir feet again for only the second time in the zoo’s lengthy history, according to team manager Sarah Roffe.
Margery, the mother, is excellent with the child. She pays ᴄʟᴏsᴇ attention to him, but she also gives him room to wander and settle in. The priceless calf is yet another significant boost for the global breeding program, which aims to prevent the extinction of the already ᴇɴᴅᴀɴɢᴇʀed species.
The recent decline in the number of Malayan tapirs in the wild is mostly attributable to the widespread conversion of their forest habitat to palm oil plantations. Tapirs are born with a very unusual coat that is a combination of spots and stripes, primarily used for camouflage. The pattern will gradually transform into the gorgeous black and wʜɪᴛe pattern you see on their parents throughout the course of the first six months of their existence.
Let’s take a look at Tapir Rony in the video below: