Since 2008, we have been celebrating World Tapir Day on April 27, drawing attention to the plight of these unmistakable-looking exotic hooves. All four tapir species that live today are on the World Conservation Union’s (IUCN) Red List – three of which are also endangered – primarily due to poaching and shrinkage of their habitat. The Debrecen Zoo, which participates in the European Species Conservation Breeding Program (EAZA EEP), has been home to South American tapirs since 2011, who have delighted the general public with several offspring in recent years.
The tapirs have so far shared their thematic catwalk with capillaries from an area with them, into which two large mares arrived on 31 March. The young male and female who make up the future breeding couple met for the first time in Debrecen, as the former comes from Frankfurt and the latter from the Amsterdam Zoo. After a period of quarantine after their arrival and gradually getting used to it, they already took possession of the social runway on the South American line. The great mara, also known as the pampany rabbit (Dolichotis patagonum), is the largest rodent native to the pampas in southern and central Argentina. Its appearance is very special: its head is reminiscent of a short-eared rabbit, while its body is more reminiscent of a tiny deer or other ungulates.
The institution’s New World collection is now augmented by a Nandukak, who arrived on April 21 from the Ústí nad Labem Zoo in the Czech Republic. There are plans for a potential couple to move in soon. Native to the eastern pampas of South America, the rhinoceros (Rhea americana) is the largest bird on the continent, although much shorter and slimmer than the world record ostrich. It got its name from the characteristic cry of roosters during a wedding dance.
Visitors will be able to admire the newcomers as early as the day of reopening.
Dr. Gergely Sándor Nagy
Executive Director
