The black-backed tapir comes from Asia, and there the Opel Zoo and the World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) want to work together to help the critically endangered species. But in a few years up to three of the animals with the characteristic black and white fur pattern will also feel comfortable in Kronberg. In the new facility that is to be built on the zoo grounds for a total of seven Asian species – three Indian rhinos will also delight zoo visitors in a few years. Zoo director Thomas Kauffels expects construction work to begin next year. The zoo is already providing help for the tapirs in Thailand: starting this October, it will be participating in a WWF project called “Eyes on the Forest.” On Wednesday, the two institutions presented their collaboration at the zoo. They focus their eyes on the forest in two national parks in the south of Thailand. The wild animals now live almost exclusively in the parks, but there are fewer and fewer of them there too, said Susanne Gotthardt, who is responsible for Southeast Asia at WWF Germany based in Berlin. In Kaeng Krung and Kui Buri, as the parks are called, trees are also being cut down, so that the animals’ habitat is dwindling. Farmers in the poor area are likely to grow oil palms and bananas in the parks in some places. However, the boundaries are only roughly defined, so there are always conflicts. Forest monitoring by drone This is where the project comes into play. The WWF wants to set up a real-time monitoring system. The environmentalists want to monitor the forest with the help of specially equipped drones. With the drones, the national park authorities could not only detect illegal logging operations, but also map the area together with the farmers and resolve the dispute over boundaries. Once the condition of the forest has been recorded, targeted reforestation should be carried out – so that threatened species do not die out. The black-backed tapir is the largest tapir species and the only one native to Asia. The other three species occur in Central and South America. The special thing about the Asian tapir is its pattern: it looks as if a light-colored saddle pad, i.e. a saddle cloth, was placed over a dark animal. The animals used to be widespread throughout Southeast Asia. Today they only occur in Myanmar, Malaysia, Sumatra and Thailand. The “von Opel Hessische Zoostiftung”, which runs the zoo, is contributing a total of 240,000 euros to the project over several years; it is paying 60,000 euros four times . CEO Gregor von Opel speaks of a nice day for the zoo because the collaboration with the nature conservation organization is a good opportunity to advance the zoo’s efforts to protect species. From Kauffels’ point of view, it is also an advantage that the WWF, which is represented in Thailand, has already established cooperation with the authorities there. More on the subject Opel was also visibly pleased personally. An idea that is more than 30 years old has taken shape. Decades ago, the WWF was discussed as a preferred partner when it came to “which lighthouses” could be used to realize the zoo’s concerns. At that time, however, the former natural history museum did not become a WWF house, but rather the zoo school. Opel names Goethe University Frankfurt as the second lighthouse with which the zoo has been working for years. Kauffels said that the zoo always combines the construction of new facilities with an action in the region of origin of the animals that are to move there – this time in Asia . According to him, the facility in Kronberg, which is expected to be built from next year, will cost around 17 to 20 million euros. When everything is ready for the animals after at least a year and a half of construction, up to three black-backed tapirs will be in the new enclosure to arouse interest in their counterparts in the wild. Two females and one male will probably move in. Tapirs are solitary animals, and zoos must keep the sexes separate except during mating. That’s why the Opel Zoo is planning two departments. Because they like it warm, the tapirs are also given indoor stables – and, in Kauffels’ words, a pool both inside and outside.
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