Happy World Tapir Day! with Drowzee

I love tapirs. A delightful forest ungulate from the darkest regions of South America (as well as Malaysia), they boast not only one of the strangest appearances of any mammal, but also the cutest babies in the animal kingdom. I mean seriously, check them out...

All four living species of tapir are classed as endangered, and as such, to raise awareness for this wonderfully unique creature, April 27th has been designated World Tapir Day. Given their large size, the tapir has few natural predators, save for jaguars and crocodiles. They are shy and peaceful creatures, happily living a semi-aquatic lifestyle away from the ever-expanding human population of South America. But of course, as is so often the case, the destruction of their natural habitat in order to make way for the needs of humanity has led to numbers declining dramatically over the last few decades. Indeed, it is estimated that there are now more tapirs in captivity across the globe than in their natural Amazonian homeland.

After a fabulous day today with my Brazilian friends, sampling some truly delightful Brazilian foods (the likes of which I have never tried before, and as such am rather impressed!), I figured it was only apt to muster up a little awareness of this delightful Brazilian beast that so rarely gets any press. 

Tapirs are magical; they're like some bizarre missing link between pigs and elephants and always make for one of my favourite exhibits at London Zoo (not solely due to their astonishingly enormous testicles! Seriously, they look like a pair of beachballs in a bin-liner!). They also exist in Japanese folklore as the dream-eating Baku (inspiring, no doubt, probably the most famous fictional tapir, Pokemon's Drowzee),  and are seen as peaceful spirits of the American forests.

So look out for these lovely beasts, and if you don't know what they are, read up on Wikipedia in order to discover your new favourite animal!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapir

Happy World Tapir Day everyone!