Last month we
said farewell to one of our zoo
favourites. Shawn, the Brazilian Tapir was the first
animal Zoo Manager Tim bought to Folly Farm, so it was a
particularly sad day for the zoo team but definitely a move which
should be celebrated for all that Shawn has done for the
European Endangered Species Breeding
Programme.
Pastures New - Heading for Knowsley Safari
Park
Two of Shawn's offspring Cavalo and Jerramiah, both boys,
have gone with him to their new home in the fabulous
Knowsley Safari Park where they will be much loved
and a big hit with the visitors as they have been here in
Pembrokeshire.
Love Match - Shawn and Sommer
Shawn and Sommer's love story will go
down in Folly Zoo legend. When we took delivery of Sommer we
were told by the zoo which loaned her to us that they suspected she
was infertile as they had tried to breed from her
several times with different partners to no avail. It would
seem it was the choice of partner that was the problem or maybe the
clean Welsh air did the trick, as Shawn and Sommer went on to
produce the largest, familial breeding group of Tapirs in Europe
with five offspring.
Family Album - Shawn, Sommer and four of their five
offspring
Folly Farm's contribution to the
captive breeding programme for this endangered species has been
significant and we are proud to be sending Shawn and his male
offspring to Knowsley in order that we can eventually continue our
breeding efforts with a new partner for Ligea and Yarah, Shawn
and Sommer's daughters, and with their genes there's bound to be
even more Tapir births at Folly Farm.
Cavalo - Shawn and Sommer's third baby and the first male
Tapir to be born in Wales