An Introduction To One Of the Sanctuary Tapirs

We wanted to introduce you to one of the tapirs (antas) that came as a rehab/release, but will be a permanent resident of sanctuary. After her arrival it was quickly evident that she was blind- so this will be her home.

With the manifestations of all of her physical issues, our best guess is that she was hit by a car, causing neurologic issues, an old break in her jaw and her loss of vision. She is an older lady, as you can see if you look closely at the photo, she sleeps with her tongue hanging out. This is because she only has one tooth left in the front of her bottom jaw.

She is very sweet, but only recently has decided human affection isn’t a bad thing. Coming from the wild, she didn’t see us as comforting, but now she is shifting, learning to trust us more and seeking us out when she is confused. She does have ‘episodes’ that are somewhat like small seizures, she becomes disoriented, she drools, sometimes she will spin- but recently if we can calm her, she’ll just lie down, let it pass and then fall asleep. Of course we are super protective of her, but she’s a tough girl and she has a bodyguard rooster named Ian, so she does ok.

July 18, 2018

Comments(6)

Debbie Sides says
July 19, 2018 at 1:45 am
Have you given the tapir a name? Glad she’s being looked after. I’m sure having Ian as a friend will keep her company!
- REPLY
  Kat Blais says
  July 19, 2018 at 2:56 am
  Not yet, we have some good suggestions to go through
Catherine Raymond says
July 19, 2018 at 2:35 pm
Thank you so much for your care of this tapir. I’m glad you’re considering a name for her. Hopefully she will eventually respond to that when she hears it. Where does she live in the sanctuary?
- REPLY
  Kat Blais says
  July 19, 2018 at 3:46 pm
  She lives in an area we build for rehabilitation and release, close to the house, down the road from the African barn. We built four areas for this and she is in one of them. We don’t usually use her name (a habit of working with wildlife) but we do speak to her often, so changing her name won’t be an issue. It’s more the soothing tone that she appreciates when she’s confused or struggling a bit. Or the happy tone of meal time. 🙂
Patricia says
July 21, 2018 at 4:32 pm
What about the name Brunhilda. She was also a tough and pretty woman.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brunhild
Many greetings from a huge Tapir Fan from Germany.
Thank you for your wonderful work!!!
Yours Patty
Sherry says
July 30, 2018 at 11:46 pm
Thank you for caring for her. She needs you and other animal friends around!

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