Article Submitted by The Belize Zoo

In early March, a concerned citizen found a struggling tapir calf near La Gracia Village in the Cayo District. A wildfire had swept through the area, and amid the chaos, this tiny calf was found alone; her mother was nowhere in sight.
Her rescuer acted quickly to remove her from harm. He then reached out to the Belize Wildlife & Referral Clinic so the calf could get the urgent care she needed. Once she was stable, she made her way to The Belize Zoo, where she will grow up in a safe and loving environment.In late April, “Grace” is estimated to be about two months old, and is still developing; her little teeth just arrived recently! She enjoys bottle feeding four times daily, enthusiastically chugging down a milk replacement formula provided by her zookeepers. This is very similar to their early days in the wild, where tapir calves would be nursed by their mother several times a day during their infancy, and spend over a year at her side learning how to forage for food, avoid predators, and navigate the wild in general.

The Central American tapir, Belize’s beloved National Animal, is an endangered species largely due to habitat loss and fatal collisions with vehicles. Grace represents an iconic but vulnerable species and will play a critical role at the Belize Zoo in raising awareness about her species’ survival
challenges.

Grace made her big public debut on Sunday April 27th for World Tapir Day.
And, if a baby tapir wasn’t adorable enough, the Zoo also received a baby tamandua (anteater) and jaguarundi around the same time Grace arrived! Thankfully, both these animals are also thriving and getting stronger every day. Both species are often good candidates for rehabilitation and release, so the Zoo aims to release them independently into the Maya Forest Corridor when the time is right.

Their habitat needs are, of course, vastly different. Tamanduas require a healthy and spacious forest canopy with lots of termite nests to feast on, while jaguarundis enjoy prowling lowland savannas and mixed forest habitats (did you know jaguarundis are Belize’s most diurnal wildcat?!).

Thankfully, the Maya Forest Corridor provides these habitats and more, making it the perfect landscape for their release!

You can follow the Belize Zoo on its Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/BelizeZoo or at https://www.belizezoo.org.

The zoo is open Monday through Saturday from 8:30AM to 5PM (last
admission at 4PM) and Sunday from 8:30AM to 4:30PM (last admission at 3:30PM).

*Photos courtesy The Belize Zoo