Eve meets the family

Baby Eve has been spending more time outside as she gets used to her new surroundings.

The month-old Brazilian tapir is still enjoying mother-daughter time with mum, Meena, in a separate internal enclosure in the South American paddock.

But keepers have been gradually introducing her to dad, Chico and big brother and sister, Ronnie and Tallulah, with supervised outings.

Keeper, Neil Flockhart, said: “We are beginning to let Eve out with Meena more and more as we gradually introduce her to the rest of the tapir family and to the capybaras, who they share the paddock with.

“We make sure we are there to supervise these initial outings, but they all seem to be getting on really well.

“It is really interesting to see Meena with Eve. When we first let her outside, Meena took her straight to the pool and tried to encourage her in, but she was a bit too shy. However, since then she’s taken to it and loves swimming and playing in the water.”

Swimming is a natural behaviour for tapirs – in the wild they use water as a means of escape from predators.

CAPTIONS: Me and my mum: Brazilian tapir Eve steps out into the South American paddock with proud mother, Meena.