New arrival South American Tapir Lyta is finding her feet at Chester Zoo. © Chester Zoo

8 September, 2004: THE Chester Zoo baby boom is continuing with the arrival of Lyta, a female South American Tapir calf. Lyta, was born to proud parents Jennifer and Cuzco and can be seen on the west side of the Zoo in the enclosure shared with the capybara next to the Twilight Zone.

Chester Zoo’s Chief Curator Mark Pilgrim said: “Lyta is doing well and is the fourth calf born to Jennifer and Cuzco. She has spent her first two weeks in the bed area finding her feet with mum and is due to take her first steps in the paddock and pool in the next few days. “Tapir are vulnerable in the wild and her arrival is important to us as part of a wider European breeding programme. They are sociable animals and Lyta is certainly proving a big hit with our visitors.”

Chester Zoo supports a 10 year research project for the conservation of Tapir in the Atlantic Rainforest in Brazil.

New arrival South American Tapir Lyta and her mother Jennifer. © Chester Zoo

The South American Tapir is a herbivore. Its flexible snout is used to pluck leaves and twigs and is invaluable when feeding on underwater plants. Tapirs are well adapted to marsh conditions and are excellent swimmers. They are solitary animals and in the wild live in forests close to rivers and lakes. Calves are born after a 13 month pregnancy and have distinctive ‘humbug’ like stripes and spots as camouflage. These juvenile markings begin to fade at two months and have completely disappeared by six months old. The calf remains with its mother until it is 6 – 8 months old. In the wild jaguars and caiman prey on both adult and young South American Tapirs. The tapir’s life expectancy is up to 20 years old.

Printed from Chester Zoo's press release, 8 September, 2004. www.chesterzoo.co.uk