How time races by!  It's been a full year since we posted to the World Tapir Day blog.  Events in the world give pause for thought - increasingly dire predictions for the climate in the coming decades and the lack of time to radically change human behaviour, a shift towards the political right in some countries that has led to the removal of environmental protections and increased destruction, and even larger demands on resources as populations continue to grow and developing countries' standard of living increase.

Whilst the direction of the world continues to look bleak, there are some glimmers of hope.  A growing number of people - especially the younger generations - are starting to agitate against the climate inaction, there is increased recognition that life on this planet cannot continue how it is if humanity does not change direction, and the environment will collapse without significant intervention - and with it, human society.  Whether matters change quickly enough remain to be seen, but there is hope.

In our little patch of the global conservation story - awareness raising for the four extant species of tapirs - increased recognition of the importance tapirs play in their habitats is very pleasing to see.  A widely reported recent study highlighted the importance of tapirs in helping degraded rainforests recover.  By spending much longer in degraded areas than in pristine rainforest, tapirs' role as seed dispersers - through defecating them - more seeds are therefore distributed.  In addition, by being defecated in areas with less tree coverage, more seeds germinate.  We've been saying it since the first World Tapir Day in 2008 - that protecting tapirs helps protect the environment and contributes towards reducing the impact of climate change.  The study's authors agree with us - from the linked report:

Protecting species and their habitats is only one piece of the climate change battle - but it's an important one.  It's one with which we can all assist.  Through our choices as consumers, we can:

• reduce waste
  
• ensure the items we purchase are produced in an environmentally friendly and ethical manner
  
• consume less - reuse and repair, rather than replace
  
• support companies and organisations that actively minimise their impact, rather than engage in the greenwashing of their activities
  

An individual's ability to do so will depend on their income, their access to ethically sourced items, and knowledge about their purchases (and purchasing power), but everybody can improve their current contribution to tackling climate change.  If nothing else, think of the tapirs!

On other topics, whilst we may not have an especially active website, our social media accounts are far more active:

• Facebook
  
• Twitter
  
• Instagram - recently revived
  

On these sites you will find a daily stream of tapir news, other relevant content, and many photos of tapir calves - yes, we know that some people are into tapirs only because of the baby tapirs!  At this juncture, I give my utmost thanks and appreciation to Sarah C. who manages our Facebook page and has recently taken on the Instagram feed.  She has been doing so for approaching a decade, and do so tirelessly and with great enjoyment, such is her passion for tapirs.  Without her commitment, World Tapir Day would have fallen into a dark hole many years ago.

Anthony.

It's hard to believe that World Tapir Day is about to be celebrated for the eleventh time.  What started out as a random thought and a post to a tapir group on Google Groups (now sadly long-since deleted) in late January 2008, WTD has become an event that is celebrated around the world every year, and has hopefully contributed to the increased awareness of tapirs and the threats that they face.

WTD was always meant to develop a life of its own.  It was never meant to be a centrally-controlled event, but rather develop organically as more people and organisations became aware of its existence and adopted it as their own.  There have been many highlights over the years, about which we had no forewarning.  Discovering the countries in which events have taken place (25 at the last count), and the media coverage that WTD has received is a real source of enjoyment each year.

The most important aspect to WTD has been spreading the word about tapirs.  Maybe tapirs would have received more coverage anyway, but I'd like to think that WTD has helped to increase their profile at least a little, and provided a focus for others' activities.

It's hard to come up with a short of highlights, but here are a few from the first ten years of WTD:

• Creation of national tapir days in Belize, Ecuador, and Argentina
• Zoo Negara's large campaign in 2009
• First Dog on the Moon's comic for WTD in 2010
• Being part of the "Don't Palm Us Off" campaign to lobby for the correct labeling of palm oil as an ingredient
• Reaching 3rd place in the trending topics in the UK on the day on Twitter in 2015
• Coverage in large national media outlets such as the Telegraph (UK), New StraitTimes (Singapore), Globo (Brazil), Wired (US), and the Nine Network (Australia)
• Being interviewed on Australian and Swedish radio, Yahoo! News, and others.

WTD has also raised funds for the World Land Trust and Rainforest Trust, and provided inspiration for others to also raise funds for both organisations, as well as other organisations.

Looking back, I feel it's fair to say that the initial concept of WTD has been met, and it continues to grow and receive more coverage.  Here's to the next ten years of World Tapir Day and spreading the word about how wonderful tapirs are.

One of the challenges that we - "we" being the small group of WTD volunteers - faces is deciding what we communicate with you, our fellow tapir fans, about tapirs.  It's no secret that our most popular posts throughout the year generally involve a video or series of photos of a newly born tapir.  And that's no surprise, let's be honest - who doesn't like a baby tapir, or a video of a tapir being tickled and groomed?  Sometimes a post on 27 April, World Tapir Day, attracts more publicity than we'd ever dreamed of in WTD's first year in 2008.