Everything in nature has a purpose: behind the fashionable-looking spots and stripes lies the perfect camouflage for our newborn tapir calf. After about 8 months, the little one will lose his camouflage and, like his parents, will have a uniform dark brown coat.

The joy over this cute new arrival is especially great, because for the four-year-old mother, Lisa, this is her first offspring. “With first births, we monitor the animals very closely, because even animal mothers are inexperienced with their first offspring,” explains veterinarian Reinhard Pichler. The gestation period lasts about 400 days—more than a year!

The past few weeks have been exhausting for the keepers, as the birth was a long time coming, and their worries and tension grew daily. Animal births are difficult to predict; baby animals usually arrive unexpectedly and at night. So the keepers had been keeping a close eye on the pregnant tapir mom for several weeks.

Everything went well: the little one weighs 5.2 kg, his baby fur is beautiful, and although he’s only a few days old, little Gideon is already becoming a favorite among the visitors, who can watch him as he explores the outdoor enclosure, still a bit wobbly, at his mom’s side.