Zookeepers save baby tapir by giving it mouth-to-mouth - video

A baby tapir's life has been saved after zookeepers gave it mouth-to-mouth.

On September 3, Denver Zoo's senior Malayan tapir Rinny gave birth to a tiny baby, but keepers monitoring her progress on CCTV realised she could not break the youngster's amniotic sac.


Rebecca McCloskey, assistant curator at the zoo, rushed in to help the unresponsive animal, and performed mouth-to-mouth (or "mouth-to-snout") resuscitation to save the newborn.

"It was scary, really scary," McCloskey told Fox31 Denver. "In the video you see us run in and tap around the eye to see if there is a blink response. He did not [respond]. That's a really scary thing to see in an animal."

The keeper added: "They don't teach that in college, it's kind of something you have to feel out.

"His nose was plugged with fluid, so I didn't have to worry about air intake through his nose... I just opened his mouth wide as possible, got as good of a seal around his mouth with mine as I could and puffed some air."

A few minutes later, the baby male - who has since been named Dumadi - began breathing on his own. Both mother and baby have bonded and are now reportedly doing fine.

"This animal is so important to the zoo, the team and the captive [tapir] population, I was not going to let him go without a fight," said McCloskey.

"[Tapirs] are not closely related to any other animals so anyone who has access to a zoo with tapirs should go see them. They're pretty special animals."

There are four different species of tapirs found in the wild, all of which are classified as endangered or vulnerable. Malayan tapirs - the only species native to Asia - can grow to weigh more than 1,100 pounds (500kg), are outstanding swimmers and sometimes even use their flexible noses as snorkels.