She's beauty, she's grace - Grace the Tapir, that is. The Zoo's newest animal addition was rescued from a forest fire, treated by the Belize Wildlife and Referral Clinic, and then taken to her new home. She made her debut last month - that is, the public can now visit her enclosure. But even before that, she'd been stealing the hearts of animal lovers across the country. Courtney Menzies visited her today and has this story.
This is Grace - the Belize Zoo's newest tapir. She's about 2 months old, but she's already the star of Tapir Town. And with her rise to fame, the Zoo is hoping that she'll be the next ambassador.
Gerson Garcia, Lead Zookeeper, TBZ
"Grace came to us after a forest fire. We think that her mom abandoned her because when she was found, there was no mom around and lucky for Grace, there was a person close by and she was found before the fire actually got to her."
"For Grace, it's a constant taking care of her on a daily basis, everyday. We used to feed her milk 4 times a day. In the beginning we had her behind the scenes and now we have her out here for the public to see her. She's still growing and she gets a lot of our attention and we make sure that she's well taken care of."
And much like April - the Zoo's last tapir ambassador - Grace is well loved by the public. But this time around, she gets to show off her stripes and spots on social media. She's featured in plenty of TikToks and Instagram reels, and her fans can't get enough of her - which in turn, benefits the other animals.
Gerson Garcia, Lead Zookeeper, TBZ
"Thanks to social media. The public is well aware of Grace's growing with us. We are recording everything like her food intake, her weight. At the moment Grace is 78 pounds. When we got her, she was around 17 pounds. She's 9 weeks now, she's growing really fast and the public is always asking where is Grace, they want to see Grace, the kids especially wanna see Grace."
Reporter
"Is it a big help to the Zoo, does it bring in a lot more people and then you get that much needed finance?"
Gerson Garcia, Lead Zookeeper, TBZ
"Yes, like I said, people are always asking, where is the baby tapir? They want to see the baby tapir because you don't normally see a baby tapir and we do her feed 3 times a day now sometimes we do it here for the public to see."
But caring for a baby tapir isn't cheap and Grace's milk is costly. Plus, as she grows, her enclosure will need to expand. But the public can be a part of her journey by lending their support.
Gerson Garcia, Lead Zookeeper, TBZ
"We have her feeding at 1pm and there is also a feeding at 4:30pm and guests can leave a donation of $25 and they will go behind the scenes with the zookeeper for an exclusive and they will witness how we feed Grace and they can actually take pictures with her."
And who wouldn't want to meet such a saucy - but sweet - baby tapir?
Gerson Garcia, Lead Zookeeper, TBZ
"One thing she doesn't like is the rubbing of her neck, she doesn't really like that, she will go like this. But apart from that, you can rub her tummy, you can rub her legs, she really loves that. She's been getting stronger everyday as time goes by, she's really getting stronger and stronger."
And if you're a super fan, you can also get Grace merch from the gift shop.
You can visit Grace during her feeding time for $25 per person by contacting the zoo ahead to make your reservation.
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