The female calf does not yet have a name. But she’s using her wiggly nose to explore the zoo’s Elephant Odyssey habitat while staying close to her mother. Luna.
The calf is an endangered Baird's tapir (TAY-pur), native to Mexico and Central America. She was born on June 3.
She was born with her striped and spotted coat for camouflage. The red-brown color will eventually turn to black, like her mother.
The Baird's tapir is listed as an endangered species, due to hunting and habitat loss. Zoologists say the tapir helps maintain biological diversity in forests by spreading seeds and fertilizing the forest floor.
