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

Big thanks to u/Cool-Professional298 for the heads-up. (The zoo staff suspected that Fifi would be having the baby soon because she was getting so big, but they weren't sure exactly when it would happen.)

Video here:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/MdPOzrBU5PY
https://www.instagram.com/hertfordshirezoo/reel/Dazls39tNYK/

https://hertfordshirezoo.com/news/lowland-tapir-calf-born-at-hertfordshire-zoo/

"Hertfordshire Zoo is delighted to announce the birth of a healthy lowland tapir calf to mum Fifi on Wednesday 8th July.

The arrival marks the first lowland tapir calf to be born at Hertfordshire Zoo in 14 years and is an exciting milestone for the zoo’s conservation breeding programme.

Following a remarkable 430 day pregnancy, Fifi gave birth to a healthy calf, which was standing within just 10 minutes before taking its first all important feed from mum shortly afterwards."

Hello fellow humans and tapir enthusiasts:

CW: brief discussion of animal traps

I read an absolutely gut-wrenching article from Fauna and Flora (British animal welfare charity) about Malayan tapirs and how they get stuck in tiger traps. Because they have poor eyesight, they can't see the traps, and they can't get out of the traps once they activate the horrible things. Rangers are working to stop this, but they need help. One of the lines in the article really stuck out to me:
"If everyone who read this gave just $3, we'd be able to save so many tapirs." It really got me thinking. It didn't feel like a guilt trip; it felt like a call to action. I'm not exactly rolling in the dough, but I can spare $3 to help the tapirs. I try to avoid the bystander effect whenever I can. I don't want to be the person that says "oh somebody else will" because what if I can be the somebody that will?

I don't work for Fauna and Flora. I'm not associated with them at all- I'm just a person who loves tapirs with all their heart. Of course, if you aren't in a position to give, you shouldn't feel bad AT ALL. We all have to live!! Maybe you've already given money to other causes, including tapir charities, and that is fabulous. I just thought I should share this. Thanks for reading. Long live tapirs. 🖤🤍

It's a male -- no name announced yet, but his mom is Coco. It sounds like she had a female calf last year.

https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/chiapas-zoo-welcomes-newborn-tapir-conservation-win-for-endangered-mammal/

In Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica. Don’t worry, we weren’t this close - I was using a long camera lens. The mum woke up, looked at us, yawned a couple of times and went straight back to sleep. A spider monkey was also watching us. Does anyone know roughly how old the youngster would be?

What connection could a fearsome pirate possibly have with a peaceful tapir? Though it sounds like a tavern tale, history proves that truth is stranger than fiction.

In the late 17th century, the waters of the Americas were sailed by the English captain William Dampier (1651–1715). But Dampier was no ordinary sailor. Beneath his British privateer's hat lay the brilliant mind of a botanist, an exceptional writer, and a sharp observer of nature.

During his daring voyages through the New World, a mysterious animal sparked his curiosity. Although he never managed to see it face-to-face, destiny led him to follow its tracks with insatiable curiosity. He found its fresh footprints in the untamed Isthmus of Darien in Panama and listened with fascination to the stories of locals in Mexico's Campeche Bay. To piece together the puzzle of this "fantastic" creature, Dampier gathered the testimonies and anecdotes shared by his own colleagues in Honduras.

In his 1705 navigation journals, the pirate christened this being as the "mountain cow," also noting that the Spaniards called it "ante." Intrigued and confused by the animal's true identity, Dampier sent his detailed notes on its physical appearance and habits to a learned zoologist in Holland.

Upon reading Dampier's descriptions, the European scientist was perplexed. Risking a theory, he linked the unknown creature to a hippopotamus, though he admitted it could very well be an entirely new species to the science of the time. This was how Central America's mysterious "mountain cow" ended up immortalized and illustrated in the pages of Dampier's own pirate chronicles with the clear appearance of a hippopotamus.

Though he never knew it, that enigmatic New World creature that so intrigued the pirate was later identified as the Central American tapir (Tapirus bairdii).

Bibliographical References:

DAMPIER, W. 1705. Voyages and descriptions: vol.II. In three parts, viz. I. A supplement of the voyage round the world,... 2. Two voyages to Campeachy;... 3. A discourse of trade-winds, breezes, storms,... By Capt. William Dampier. Illustrated with particular maps and draughts. To which is added, a general index to both volumes. The third edition. London: printed for James Knapton, 1705.

DAMPIER, W. 1709. A continuation of A voyage to New-Holland, &c. in the year 1699: wherein are described, the islands Timor, Rotee and Anabao, a passage between the islands Timor and Anabao, Copang and Laphao bays, the islands Omba, Fetter, Bande and Bird, a descrip.., London: Printed by W. Botham for J. Knapton.

This and other interesting stories about tapirs are included in the book "La Danta en Venezuela: más allá del mito" (The Tapir in Venezuela: Beyond the Myth), written by geographer Denis Alexander Torres and published by Ediciones Pietrix, 2024, in Caracas, Venezuela.

The Spanish version is available here:

https://lacasadeltapir.blogspot.com/2025/06/historias-sobre-tapires-una-danta-pirata.html