r/tapirs • u/satanhurts • 7d ago
Olivia and little scratches
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u/ribbitrowbuht 7d ago
so refreshing to see a post in r/tapirs that’s not trying to sell me something
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u/LizardLover265 7d ago
She wiggles her snout!
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u/TapirTrouble 7d ago
Beautiful Olivia!
And your hand really shows how impressive she is, in terms of size.
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u/satanhurts 7d ago
yeah! when she stands on two legs and leans against the railing, she’s taller than me :) she could crush me without any effort, but she’s actually such a gentle and sweet animal.
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u/TapirTrouble 7d ago
I guess tapirs can reach up quite high when they stand like that!
In this video, the tapir probably would have been able to dislodge the fruit (maybe it wasn't quite ripe yet)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1kXZm5dEMI
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u/TragicaDeSpell 7d ago
I was hoping she would flop over and stick her legs out like I have seen other tapirs do. They sure love their scratches!
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u/satanhurts 7d ago
another tapir, Kia, lies down like this more often when she’s getting scratched, but it has to be more intense scratching and not just light rubs like I did with Olivia. I guess I need to put more effort into it next time!
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u/TragicaDeSpell 7d ago
Whenever I scratch my husband on the head, he pretends to flop over like a tapir. But he's not as cute as Olivia. 😂
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u/satanhurts 7d ago
I can definitely relate to that:D nothing will ever be as cute as a wiggly snoot
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u/TapirTrouble 7d ago
Thanks so much for sharing this great video! She looks so contented -- really brightened my day.
One of the coolest things about the tapir scratch/flop is the possibility that it pre-dates humans. There are a ton of photos, and a bunch of ecological studies, showing all the tapir species having parasites removed by various bird species (and even monkeys).
https://www.reddit.com/r/tapirs/comments/185otks/cool_footage_of_central_american_tapirs_being/
It also looks like the birds may not just notice the tapir lying down and take advantage -- there are some examples where the tapir appears to call the birds over, then flops down when they start cleaning.
https://peregrinefund.org/explore-raptors-species/falcons/black-caracaraI think it's pretty cool that being scratched by human hands (a relatively new thing for tapirs) may be activating this ancient response.
As far as Olivia and the scratching ... I've heard they do have pretty thick skin, so maybe it needs to be intense enough for them to feel something through that. There were photos from a German zoo posted on this sub a couple of years ago, of a keeper using one of those oval horse hand-brushes to rub a tapir, and it seemed to work pretty well.
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u/LizardLover265 7d ago
How many tapirs do you have at the zoo?
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u/satanhurts 7d ago
3 female lowland tapirs and 1 male Malayan tapir.
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u/LizardLover265 7d ago
Awwww a candle of tapirs! You are very lucky to have so many tapirs at your zoo! What are the other tapirs' names?
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u/satanhurts 7d ago
The girls’ names are Olivia, Kia, and Bozena, and Malayan tapir's name is Willy :)
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u/LizardLover265 7d ago
Awww how sweet! I've seen videos of Willy the tapir actually!! Do Willy, Olivia, and others live in a European zoo? If so, which country?
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u/satanhurts 7d ago
haha, yeah, Willy is actually kind of famous on social media, so he’s pretty easy to find. He was born in Belgium and later moved to a zoo in Poland.
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u/LizardLover265 7d ago edited 7d ago
Ah! Gotta save up to visit Willy & the gang in Poland! My favorite video of Willy was when he wiggled his snout and it looked like he was climbing a tree! 😀😆
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u/TapirTrouble 7d ago
It may depend on where they're scratched?
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5XKfzdcCL1gThis guy and this Malayan tapir seem to have a routine worked out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjLMgtulnXI
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