Baby Luta, Lives up to His Name

Luta required round-the-clock attention

There are some dates that stay with you forever, and April 5^th 2012 is one date that Dartmoor Zoo staff will always remember fondly.  It was the day that Luta was born.

Luta, or Lutador to give him his full name, is a Brazilian Tapir. Brazilian Tapirs, despite their name, are found throughout South America, from northern Argentina up to Venezuela. They belong to a group of animals known as “odd toed ungulates,” a group that also includes horses and rhinos.

They feed on fruits, leaves and other plant material that occur in their tropical forest homes. Luta is the first Tapir to be born and raised at DZP, and as tapirs have a thirteen month pregnancy we had a long time to wait for his arrival.

When he eventually arrived it was a moment of joy, followed by worry and concern. We caught the moment he was born on CCTV which showed that he had a breech birth, coming out back end first. He was unable to stand and extremely weak. As a consequence he was unable to follow mum, Chana and therefore not unable to suckle.

After much deliberation we decided to take him away from his mum for hand-rearing. Every member of Animal Department helped out with this, committing to a grueling schedule of round-the-clock feeding and attention.

With each feeding we paid close attention to his condition looking for the tiniest sign of improvement or regression. He took to feeding from a bottle very easily. Every day he showed signs of regaining his strength, and crucially, the use of his back legs. He was a true fighter.

Reintroducing Luta to mum, Chana was a tense moment

Although he was out of the woods, we still had a way to go. Our biggest worry was that Luta would become imprinted on us. The earliest days are crucial to the bonding process, and spending all that time with the keepers taking care of his basic needs there was a danger that he might not realise he was in fact a tapir. To avoid this, throughout the separation period we would swap bedding between Luta and his mum so that each would be properly familiar with the other’s scent. This strategy worked really well, for when Luta was reintroduced to his mother after two weeks they both took to each other very quickly.

Initially the introductions were only for an hour, and always supervised by keepers. The supervision was not because we expected any trouble, but more because tapirs, although very gentle giants, can be a little clumsy, and it is not unknown for adults to accidentally crush babies by rolling over onto them.  

Encouraged by the behaviour of both animals we steadily progressed to “sleepovers,” whereby the new family would be left together overnight unsupervised, and within a very short time we felt confident enough to leave him with his parents permanently.

Our little boy had grown up!

Baby Luta under the watchful eye of mum on his first swim

Since that time Luta has grown into a healthy, active, inquisitive creature who doesn’t show any signs of the trauma of his early days. He can often be seen enjoying the full run of our large South American paddock which he shares with mum and dad, rhea, capybara and an assortment of ducks. He’s a firm favourite with staff and visitors alike.

We are all immensely proud of him and his fighting spirit. He took everything in his stride, and overcame all the obstacles he faced with sheer determination.  His name, Lutador, is a reflection of that; in Portuguese it means, “fighter,” and it suits him well.

Mike Downman
Head Keeper

Keepers' Snowy Week

This week at Dartmoor Zoo we have not escaped the heavy snowfall, icy roads and freezing conditions that have plagued the country. On Wednesday morning the treacherous driving conditions meant that many staff were unable to even get to the zoo. Hundreds of schools and offices in Devon have been shut for the last few days, but when animals are involved, life must go on as normal. They of course still need to be fed, watered, cleaned out and cared for, the same as every other day. Most of the keeping staff have made it in every day so far to do just this. Zoo keeping is hard work at the best of times, but this week that has been an understatement!

Water bowls have been freezing so hard that in some cases, keepers have been able to stand on them. As soon as we have broken the ice in every water bowl, they start to freeze up again. Although some of our animals, like the tigers and lynx are well adapted to these wintry conditions, many are not. For these species we have been providing extra large straw beds and heat lamps. Some, like the tapir, are being kept in overnight as well.

The biggest and least desired job every morning at the moment is breaking the ice on the Tiger Rock and Jaguar moats. In case you don't know, the moats are used instead of fencing on one side of each enclosure. Every day the ice gets thicker so we need to break it up first thing before we let the cats out. Normally the cats are out 24/7, but obviously this is not the best idea in these circumstances!

The keepers' favourite weapon is a long metal pole with a large bar on the end. It is very heavy and you can always tell who's done the cat round because they are collapsed over the table at break time!

Today is the first time since Tuesday that the van has been able to get to the main road (via the fallow field)! The drive is too slippery for any cars, which is one of the reasons why we are presently closed. As you can see from the video, it did need some help from the dumper on the way back, but we were running quite low on fruit and vegetables for our animals and so it was important to make the journey. The weather forecast for the weekend is more snow so we felt we had to take the opportunity to get some supplies in. Please telephone the zoo before you visit, to make sure we are open.

Fire hose fun for Sovereign

Thanks to another large donation of fire hose from the fire brigade this week, the keepers have been very busy creating a variety of enrichment devices. Fire hose is used by lots of zoos, it is incredably durable and therefore safe to use with even the most destructive of our animals.

Sovereign, our ten year old male jaguar, was one of the first to benefit from the delivery. We decided to make a sling for a large boomer ball and to hang this up from a tree in his enclosure. Boomer balls are a firm favourite with the carnivores but by suspending one up high, the type of movement possible would obviously be very different. It was made so that peices of meat could be wedged between the straps and the ball, making food acquisition much more of a challenge! After a week or two, the object will be removed and hung in one of our other cat enclosures for a short time so that Sovereign doesn't become bored with it. The scent of other felines on the ball as it is rotated around the enclosures can only add interest.

Fire hose was also randomly woven between the other trees in the jaguar enclosure and loose ends left hanging down. We hope Sovereign will perhaps bat and pull on these, and we can also suspend food from them.

Our curator Will has made this browse holder and we will be making more in the near future. These will be given to many species including the vervet monkeys, coati, tapir and reindeer. We have plenty of other ideas for the fire hose including a hammock for the bears.

Pigs transferred to new homes

This photo, taken earlier this afternoon, shows our curator Will and keeper Ben, ushering the two remaining female pigs from their enclosure into a horse box. You may remember in an earlier blog we told you we were looking to rehome our 7 vietnamese pot bellied pigs. Well, over the last few weeks suitable homes have been found for all of them, and these sisters were the last to leave. The 3 males, dominant Boris and his sons, were transferred together two weeks ago and are now living in Somerset. The two females we moved yesterday are also sisters, and were relocated to a small holding in North Cornwall; they are likely to breed in the future. The keepers are very pleased that the pigs have gone to such good homes and could be kept in suitable groups.

The pig enclosure will soon be undergoing redevelopment to accomodate our reindeer, Blitzen, Comet and Donna. Before building work begins in two weeks time, the empty paddock will be used by the reindeer during the daytime. This is to get them used to this area of the zoo gradually. They will have different animal neighbours here, and of course there will be other new sights, smells and noises too. It also means that the tapir will have access to their paddock 24/7 again. The reindeer will still be walked back to the unused tapir house and hardstanding area overnight. Construction of the new houses and hardstandings will begin soon so check the blog regularly for updates on how it is progressing.

Introducing Comet, Donna and Blitzen

Three young reindeer arrived earlier in the year and are now on view to the public for the first time. The two females, Donna and Comet, and their male companion, Blitzen, are now around a year old. When the animals first came to Dartmoor they were very nervous of people. They were kept in an off show enclosure to allow keepers time to build a trusting relationship with them. After many long patient hours, the reindeer began to hand feed and started allowing keepers to attach lead ropes to their head collars. Donna had always been the most comfortable around humans and soon she was being taken for walks in an empty field. Blitzen, and then Comet, later joined her on these excursions and keepers gradually began introducing the animals to the sights, smells and sounds of the zoo environment.

The reindeer have become much more confident around humans and are no longer spooked by most new experiences. Now that they have settled in, the keepers wanted to place them on public view, although the new reindeer complex is not yet finished. The tapir enclosure is home to Roger and Chana. It is composed of two stables, two hardstanding areas and one large paddock. As one of these stables and hardstanding areas is not currently in use, it was decided that Donna, Comet and Blitzen should temporarily move in . The tapir are shut into their hardstanding area for a few hours during the day so that the reindeer can use the paddock for a little while. Until mid afternoon, Roger and Chana are always asleep in their house, so they are not missing out.

The reindeer are still taken for a walk around the zoo every day and they continue to improve. They are in training for Christmas when we hope they will be firm favourites with our visitors. So, if you visit Dartmoor Zoo you will be able to see the trio and if you're lucky enough you may even meet one close up on a walk!