World Tapir Day 2015: Round-Up

We've been a little slack in posting a round-up of World Tapir Day in 2015, but here it is. There is a lot to report and, quite frankly, it has taken time just to work out exactly where events were held, by whom, and what they were. But we think we are there now.

World Tapir Day was busy in 2015, with a wide range of events taking place around the world, media coverage and online activity and discussion reaching levels never previously seen before. It was hard to keep up with it all, but we've done our best to summarise it for you.

We are so grateful to the people and organisations who made World Tapir Day so successful in 2015. Without your efforts and engagement there is no way that WTD could have grown to the level that it has.

Events took place in fourteen countries on five continents (full list, as far as we are aware of them, below), as well as some great coverage online. Leading the way was Japan, with events marking WTD taking place at ten zoos across the country - the most events in a single country in a year so far!

Longstanding supporters of WTD, the Adelaide Zoo, celebrated WTD for the sixth straight year with keeper talks and information tables. The Belize Zoo, which has been part of WTD since its inception in 2008, again marked the day in conjunction with its Belizean National Tapir Day celebrations that has been celebrated since 2011. Centre to the Belize Zoo's events was Fuego's second birthday party.

World Tapir Day/National Tapir Day at the Belize Zoo

Tapir artists were at the fore at CERZA in France, creating artworks for auctioning to raise funds for tapir conservation.

Elsewhere in Central and South America, Honduras saw its first event with an information stand in La Ceiba run by Grupo Pro-Tapir. Brazil also had its first WTD event with the Parque das Aves in Foz do Iguaçu, and the Zoo Córdoba celebrated across the border in Argentina.

Other countries that saw their first events marking WTD were Italy and Taiwan, where the Taipei Zoo linked WTD activities with Earth Day and celebrated across a two-week period!

Malaysia was host to an art exhibition at the Penang Performing Arts Centre (PenangPAC) of hundreds of Malayan tapir figurines made by schoolchildren across the country as part of the Tapir 2015 exhibition.

The Department of Wildlife and National Parks, PERHILITAN, ran a campaign to make Malaysian drivers alert to the dangers faced by tapirs trying to cross roads in the country. This is particularly significant, given the large number of tapirs (and other species) killed on Malaysia's road annually.

In Malaysia, on the other hand, the artists were more conventional, with Tapir 2015 exhibiting art from the country's leading young artists.

3rd-highest trending topic in the UK for much of 27 April! Who says tapirs are niche?

For much of the day, WTD was trending in the top three topics in the UK, eventually being seventh overall for 27 April 2015, having trended for over 5 1/2 hours - not bad going, by anyone's account.

Regular posts by the IUCN, the Malaysian Nature Society and Greenpeace were especially pleasing to see.

Globo and National Geographic (Brazil), Irish Examiner, the BBC and Metro (United Kingdom) and The Age (Australia) were some of the media outlets that covered World Tapir Day in various formats.

Perhaps the highlight of the day was the fantastic infographic from Peppermint Narwhal. By the time we'd made it out of bed early on the morning of 27 April in Australia, the image had already circulated widely across Twitter (so much so that we initially missed the source!).

If you didn't know your tapirs beforehand, there are no excuses now!

2015 World Tapir Day events - a summary (links to be added)

Argentina
Zoo Córdoba

Australia
Adelaide Zoo

Belize
Belize Zoo

Brazil
Educação Ambiental - Parque das Aves, Foz do Iguaçu

France
CERZA

Germany
Dortmund Zoo

Honduras
Grupo Pro-Tapir, La Ceiba

Italy
Parco Natura Viva, Bussolengo

Japan
Chiba Zoological Park
Chikozan Park Zoo
Fukuoka City Zoo
Hirakawa Zoological Park
Hiroshima City Asa Zoological Park

Japan (cont.)
Ikeda Zoo
Kyoto City Zoo
Nihon Daira Zoo
Tobe Zoological Park
Ueno Zoo
Malaysia
PenangPAC - Tapir 2015 art exhibition
Pesta Pinji festival

Poland
Wroclaw Zoo

Taiwan
Taipei Zoo

United Kingdom
Belfast Zoo
Blackpool Zoo
Dudley Zoo
Flamingo Land
Howletts Wild Animal Park
Lake District Wildlife Park
Paradise Wildlife Park
Port Lympne Reserve

United States
Bergen County Zoo
Houston Zoo
San Antonio Zoo
Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo