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What should be the focus of World Tapir Day?

27/2/2017

3 Comments

 
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.
Picture
So much pressure for such a little tapir. It's hard being so sweet, and we feel the pressure at times too (even if not for the same reasons).
Every now and again, we post a link to an article about issues that pose serious threats to the longterm survival of all four extant tapir species (not to mention to individual tapirs).  Two recent confronting examples are this post from the Malaysian Nature Society and another from Patricia Medici, President of the Tapir Specialist Group (NOTE: the links are confronting and contain disturbing reports about tapirs).  When we share such reports, we do so in the knowledge that some readers will find the reports upsetting - as do we.

We share them with the best of intentions.  We are firmly of the view that, regardless of the how confronting the reports and accompanying images may be, it is important that such information is shared.  Part of our passion for tapirs is also about raising awareness of the threats that they face, and this includes reports that we wish didn't have to exist.  But we know that not every supporter of WTD feels the same, and we've come in for criticism after some of some our posts on our Facebook and Twitter pages.  We acknowledge this criticism and do take it to heart.

It isn't as tapirs are the only species that face similar issues.  If you read news about rhinoceros conservation, the horrendous reports of poaching seem to be the predominant theme, and it can be difficult to find anything positive amongst the massive losses every year.

But World Tapir Day isn't just about what we think is important.  The strength of WTD is the sense of community that has developed to support WTD's goals, not to mention share our love of tapirs.  Part of the responsibility that we feel towards you is knowing how you feel about this topic.  So please tell us below: should we continue to post the occasional distressing report, or should we only focus on the positive side?
3 Comments
Kelly Ratcliff
28/2/2017 09:38:18

All stories should be published. It's hard to find any news on Tapir, and anytime a story appears it should be shared with everyone in the Tapir community. It is then up to each person if they want to read and share forward.

Personally I want to know every angle, story or issue. I want to save this species. I can't fully engage if I'm not aware of part of the story, or if I ignore certain facts just because they are "uncomfortable". The people I am trying to convince to help save Tapir can see the "uncomfortable" things as well, and it hurts my credibility if I can't address their questions on these things because I may have chose to ignore them.

All information is good information - as long as it is factual. I'd love to see even MORE from WTD :-)

Reply
Elizabeth
1/3/2017 01:31:30

Absolutely keep publishing those articles. It's no good for us to bury our heads in the sand and not face the fact the animals we love so much are in serious trouble.

We won't have any more cute pictures and videos if we lose tapirs to extinction.

Caring about one particular specie's concerns does not denigrate the concerns of all other endangered animals. It's a terrible habit people have that they think if you focus on one particular issue you don't care about others.

Reply
SPENCER DALLWITZ
10/3/2017 16:44:01

I would like to run a fund raiser morning tea in the company I work for to recognize world Tapir day.
I have put up various pictures to educate my colleagues and many of them do not even know what a Tapir is.
Is there anywhere that will offer assistance for a fund raising pack so as we may be able to raise money to Donate to our local Zoo which has Malayan Tapir's.
With world Tapir day on the 27th of April
2017 approaching, it would be wonderful to be able to assist this species.
Our local Zoo is the Adelaide Zoo.....Adelaide South Australia.
thankyou
Spencer

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