Tapir Specialist Group Logo The IUCN/SSC-affiliated Tapir Specialist Group is a global group of biologists, zoo professionals, researchers and advocates dedicated to conserving tapirs and their habitat through strategic action-planning in countries where tapirs live, information sharing, and through educational outreach that shows the importance of the tapir to local ecosystems and to the world at large.

IUCN & SSC Logos Affiliated

  TSG Zoo Committee

TSG Zoo Committee's main aim is to create partnerships between ex situ (zoos) organizations and in situ (in country researchers and conservation initiatives) to further the cause of tapir conservation. For more information on Zoo Committee activities and goals, please contact Viviana Quse, Zoo Committee Coordinator.

Bairds tapir, San Diego Zoo, ©Gilia Angell 2005

 

Linking Zoos and Researchers: Achievements
We wish to connect zoos with tapir researchers in range countries, and gather husbandry information from zoo professionals in the TSG so that tapirs in zoos receive the best care possible.

Zoo Committee compiled the following documents for download:

• "Plan Maestro de Coleccion Regional Pra El Tapir Centroamericano" (184K PDF) (Master plan for managing Bairds Tapirs in Central American zoos)
• TSG endorsed field projects for those zoos wishing to fund a conservation project in the wild (300K PDF).
• Funding resources available from zoos for tapir conservation projects (92K Doc)
• A register of experts in tapir captive care such as keepers, curators, researchers and vets. (Contact contact Viviana Quse to obtain)
• Tapir holding zoos & institutions world wide (172K Doc)
• Tapir Zoo Committe article in European Zoo & Aquarium Association Conservation magazine (222K Doc)
For Zoo Personnel: Tapir Husbandry “Package”
TSG Zoo Committee values the expertise of its zoo professionals who work with tapirs and has compiled useful documents on tapir husbandry, from minimum guidelines, to detailed standards and techniques for enriching the lives of captive tapirs.
Minimum husbandry guidelines:
Detailed standards:
Environmental Enrichment Techniques
Managing Semi-wild Captive Animals
Centro Fatima Guia Para Manejo del Tapir (Spanish, 5.4MB PDF)

All documents in Microsoft Word unless otherwise noted. Either click link to download or, right-click and "save as."


We gratefully acknowledge the authors of the above husbandry and veterinary guidelines, Rick Barongi, Daniel Janssen, Joe Flanagan, Sonia Hernandez-Divers and Maria Elisa Hobbelink. Many thanks to the translators of the above documents: Siti Khadijah Abd Ghani, Anders Goncalves da Silva, Maria Elisa Hobbelink, Patricia Medici, Wilson Novarino, Viviana Quse, Leo Salas, George Velastin, Aude Desmoulins, and Zainal Zahari.
Weighing a baby Malayan tapir, Singapore Night Safari Zoo. Courtesy of Night Safari Zoo, 2004 Baby and mother mountain tapirs in off-viewing area of enclosure, Los Angeles Zoo. Courtesy L.A. Zoo, 2003


TSG Zoo Committee Members
Viviana Quse, TSG Lowland Tapir Coordinator and Zoo Committee Coordinator
Siân S. Waters, TSG
Angela Glatston, Curator of Mammals, Rotterdam Zoo, The Netherlands.
Lewis Greene, AZA Tapir TAG Chair, Fresno Zoo, USA
Bengt Holst, EAZA Tapir TAG Chair, Copenhagen Zoo, Denmark
Alberto Mendoza, Latin American Zoo Coordinator, Houston Zoo Inc., USA
Alan Shoemaker, Permit Advisor AZA Tapir TAG
Humberto Wohlers, Animal Manager, Belize Zoo and Tropical Education Centre, Belize

TSG Zoo Committee Corresponding Members
Patricia Medici, TSG Chair
Emilio Constantino, TSG Mountain Tapir Coordinator
Eduardo Naranjo, TSG Baird’s Tapir Coordinator
Carl Traeholt, TSG Malayan Tapir Coordinator
Aude Desmoulins, Lowland Tapir EEP, Lille Zoo, France
Mike Dee, Mountain Tapir SSP, Los Angeles Zoo, USA
Joseph Roman, Baird’s Tapir SSP, Virginia Zoo, USA.
Kelly Russo, TSG Education & Outreach Committee, Houston Zoo Inc., USA
Gilia Angell, TSG Webmaster, Seattle, USA
Stefan Seitz TSG Newletter, Germany
Siti Khadijah Abd Ghani, Malaysia
Zainal Zahari Zainuddin, Malaysia Wildlife Department