Meet Rony, the latest addition to Chester Zoo, who has been more than 13 months in the making.
The exotic little creature is a Malayan tapir, an endangered species which is related to both the horse and the rhinoceros.
Rony, who was named after a public vote, was born last week to proud parents Margery, 7, and Betong, 6, after a whopping 391-day pregnancy.
The calf weighed in at 5kg at birth and is only the second ever of his kind to born at the zoo.
His birth has been hailed by conservationists because Malayan tapirs are on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN’s) Red List of Threatened Species.
Around half of the world’s Malayan tapirs have been lost in the last 40 years, with fewer than 2,500 estimated to remain across Malaysia, Sumatra, Thailand and Myanmar. Hunting, illegal logging and mass deforestation as land is cleared for unsustainable palm oil production are blamed for the decline in numbers.
Sarah Roffe, team manager, said: "It’s wonderful to hear the pitter-patter of tiny, spotty Malayan tapir feet again for only the second time ever in the zoo’s long history.
"Mum Margery is ever so good with the baby. She’s very attentive but also gives him chance to explore and find his feet.
Read more of today's stories here
"The precious calf is another big boost for the international breeding programme, which is working to ensure the already endangered species do not become extinct.
"In the wild, the Malayan tapir population has crashed in recent times, largely due to the wide-spread conversion of their forest habitat to palm oil plantations.
"If people want to help this wonderful species then we’d urge them to demand that the palm oil contained in the products they use is from sustainable sources.”
Baby tapirs have distinctive coats when first born, made up of a series of spots and stripes to help camouflage them on the forest floors in their native South East Asia.
This pattern will slowly change over the first six months to the unique black and white pattern of their parents.
The Malayan tapir is is an ‘odd-toed’ ungulate (or hoofed mammal), with four toes on each front foot and three on each back foot.
