BEIJING: A Malayan tapir made its first public appearance in Northeast China on Wednesday (July 29) at the newly opened tapir pavilion of Dalian Forest Zoo in Dalian, Liaoning province.
The male tapir has a stocky, robust build and striking black-and-white coat. Its head, tail, and limbs are jet black, while its midsection is bright white. With a flexible, extendable nose, the animal is highly distinctive and immediately recognisable to visitors.
As the first dedicated tapir facility in Northeast China, the pavilion was designed and built with a philosophy of prioritising animal welfare and minimising ecological intervention, according to the zoo.
The complex includes multiple temperature-controlled indoor enclosures, each exceeding 50sq m, as well as three outdoor exercise yards. With nearly 1,000sq m of open-air recreational space and indoor-outdoor connectivity, the habitat is engineered to replicate the animals' natural living conditions as closely as possible.
The zoo revealed plans to introduce a Baird's tapir and lowland tapir, with the goal of establishing the most comprehensive tapir collection and the highest-standard conservation facility in Northeast China.
Dalian Forest Zoo, which ranks among the country's top zoological parks in terms of animal collection, area, and visitor numbers, currently houses over 200 species and more than 2,000 animals, and receives an average of over 1.7 million domestic and international tourists annually. Covering an area of 1.8sq km, the facility is divided into a captive-breeding area and an open-range area. - China Daily/ANN
