January 13, 2004: Tapir Specialist Group members in Panama City for the Second International Tapir Symposium attended the dedication of the new Tapir Exhibit at Panama City's Summit Zoo. Mayor Juan Carlos Navarro presented the new 5000 square meter enclosure to zoo staff and visitors, while curious Baird's Tapirs explored their new surroundings.

Mayor Juan Carlos Navarro, center, cuts the ribbon to the main viewing platform. Houston Zoo Director Rick Barongi and Summit Zoo staff surround the mayor.	A curious tapir eyes the new pool while Charles Foerster looks on, at left.
A tapir strolls through its new home.	A long view of the exhibit, looking back towards the main viewing platform.

 A partnership between Houston Zoo and the municipality of Panama City was forged to bring this exhibit to reality. Jim Brighton of PJ Landscape Architects and staff at Houston and Summit Zoos combined their design and husbandry expertise with ecology knowledge from Baird's Tapir biologist Charles Foerster to design an enclosure that would best suit the zoo's 7 tapirs. Volunteers and zoo staff built two large exhibits and six holding pens, all with individual pools.

Four separate trips to Panama by Houston Zoo staff, led by Houston Zoo's Community Programs Coordinator Alberto Mendoza, ensured that construction stayed on schedule and that extra hands were put to work building the pool, welding fences and building viewing platforms out of trees harvested from Summit Park. Funding for the project came from Houston Zoo's Naturally Wild Conservation Program and the Municipality of Panama City.

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