Fancy tickling a tapir?

We’re looking forward to marking World Tapir Day – and are offering visitors a chance to give DZG’s pair a tickle.

For three days –  Saturday 23, Sunday 24 and Wednesday, April 27 – the actual awareness day – visitors will be given the opportunity to take part in a raffle with a winner drawn at 3.30pm each day and announced over the zoo public tannoy system to take part in a close encounter with DZG’s Brazilian tapirs, Meena and Chico at 4pm.

Trainee keeper, Josh Luxton, pictured above, said: “Our tapirs love having fuss and tickles, so we thought there would be nothing better for them than to have extra, while visitors help raise funds for World Tapir Day and learn more about this loveable species.”

Raffle tickets can be purchased by the tapir enclosure between 10am and 3.30pm and visitors can also discover more about tapirs during a talk at the South American paddock at 1.15pm on the three days.

All money raised will be donated to World Land Trust’s ‘Forest in the Sky’ appeal which is raising money to protect Mountain tapir habitats in the wild. 

Find out more in the video below…