The Woodland Park Zoo welcomes the birth of an adorable baby tapir

This year has been a wild ride so far — perhaps you need some good news to start the week. We’re here to announce that the Woodland Park Zoo has welcomed an adorable baby Malayan tapir.

Nicknamed Watermelon, the tapir was born on June 10 at 18 pounds with a reddish-brown coat dappled with white and cream-colored spots and stripes that help it camouflage in bamboo or reed jungles. The Woodland Park Zoo is expecting the markings to fade at about five to eight months, when the calf begins to look like a miniature adult.

Tapir Ulan, the baby’s mother, who is fully grown. (Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo)

The tapir calf is the first offspring between 8-year-old Ulan, who was born at Woodland Park Zoo, and 20-year-old Bintang, who was returned to Woodland Park Zoo in 2014.

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Animal care staff will continue to monitor Ulan and her baby to make sure that all developmental milestones are reached. After the first week of her life, Zoo staff will gradually introduce the baby to its outdoor habitats, as long as the weather remains warm and dry.

The newborn receiving a neonatal exam by the zoo’s animal health team. (Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo)

“It will be curiously fun to watch her explore the public habitat, which we did our best to tapir baby-proof to minimize any risks. We can’t wait to share our baby tapir with our community when we reopen,” said Kevin Murphy, an animal curator at Woodland Park Zoo.