April the tapir turns 25

The national animal of Belize, as any child can tell you, is the mountain cow, more formally know as Baird’s Tapir. But unlike the other national symbols, which tend to be a generic tree, flower or bird, the top animal spot has come to be personified by a single tapir who resides at the Belize Zoo. Today, News Five’s Marion Ali was on hand for a very special event in her life.

Marion Ali, Reporting
Almost as old as the independent Belize, the country’s most popular animal, April the tapir, celebrated her twenty-fifth birthday. Surrounded by children who came to the Belize Zoo to sing and dance for her, April played up to the camera and ate her entire cake.

Kieran Requena, student, Sacred Heart Primary
“I like how ih eat di cake from top to bottom. Soh ih like it.”

Marion Ali
“Weh di eena di cake?”

Kerian Requena
“Vegetables; Carrots, melon, flowers and leaves, yeah and banana and stuff.”

Kirklin Coc, student, Sacred Heart Primary
“I learn the tapir mother died and the tapir is twenty-five years old.”

Adair Fraser, student, Sacred Heart Primary
“They weigh about six hundred pounds and they are very good swimmers. They like vegetarians—vegetables, they are herbivores.”

With a quarter century behind her, April is no youngster, but zoo officials feel she still has some good years left.

Celso Poot, Education Dir., Belize Zoo
“In the wild tapirs live up to about twenty years. In captivity they live to about thirty years so April is at the halfway point between captivity and the wild.”

Marion Ali
“So she has about five more years if we’re to go by that.”

Celso Poot
“Well if we’re to go by those records she has about five more years but I am certain that April, the care she’s getting, the attention she’s getting will definitely exceed thirty years.”

And while zoo officials wish April many more celebrations, the annual shindig also has a more serious underlying purpose.

Celso Poot
“They are listed as endangered. That means that there’s a high risk of these animals becoming extinct in the wild. In some regions in Central America we don’t have tapirs in the wild anymore. So the tapir is an important species in an eco-system.”

And this is the reason why Minister of State in the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, Elvin Penner, says he will personally ensure that measures are taken to protect the endangered species.

Elvin Penner, Min. of State, Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment
“I would love to see a tapir in the wild sometimes or even a jaguar and if we don’t preserve then that lessens the chances of that ever happening. So I do believe our government is very serious, personally, it is of interest to me.”

Marion Ali
“There are people who do hunt these animals.”

Elvin Penner
“I am not aware of what the penalties are. I do understand that it is illegal and if it is illegal I think we do need to make sure that we have the manpower available to start to enforce these laws because too often in the past we’ve seen laws exist but they’re not enforced and I’m definitely one of the persons who is really serious about enforcing our laws.”

But while April still has some years left, Poot says it’s never too early to plan ahead when it comes to Belize’s National Animal and the zoo’s most popular resident.

Celso Poot
“We also have five tapirs in our collection. We have two orphans that are a part of the exhibit, the collection that we display to visitors. We have Ceibo which is right here, we have Navidad, Bullet Head and Scotty. We will definitely need to get that replacement for April but we’re not thinking about that right now. We’re not putting April away. April has many more birthdays to celebrate.”

Reporting for News Five, Marion Ali.

Viewers are reminded that well wishers may visit April and all her friends at the Belize Zoo near Democracia Village on the Western Highway.”