On June 4, 1977, the Los Angeles Zoo recorded a milestone in the history of mountain tapir breeding when a mountain tapir was born there, becoming the first of the species known to have been born in a zoo. The birth added to the zoo’s history of breeding tapirs and came as the species faced growing threats across its high-Andean range. Found in the cloud forests of Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, mountain tapirs are the smallest of the four tapir species. Their populations have declined in parts of their range, with hunting and habitat destruction identified among the threats to their survival.
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