A Survey of Feeding Management and Digestibility Measurement of Captive Malayan Tapirs (Tapirus indicus) in Japanese Zoos

Feeding management for 23 Malayan tapirs (Tapirus indicus) by Japanese zoos was surveyed in order to obtain basic data on their nutritional management. Digestibility of feeds was analyzed in 4 of the 23 tapirs to obtain information on the amount of digestible organic matter intake (DOMI) needed for growth and maintaining body weight. At 10 zoos, 2,302-9,026g and 201-1,433g of dry matter and crude protein, respectively, are fed per day. The amounts varied greatly among the zoos. Carbohydrates in the feeds can be classified into 5 groups based on the amounts of starch (sweet potato) and fibrous materials (grasses and other leaves). Digestibilities of crude fat and total fiber (neutral detergent fiber) were low at 25.7% and 27.9%, respectively. There were large variations among the individual tapirs. On the other hand, digestibility of non-fibrous carbohydrates was high at 85.5%, and the variation among individual tapirs was small. Judging by digestibilities of feeds and body weight changes, we concluded that the amount of digestible organic matter intake for a Malayan tapir to maintain or increase its body weight slightly ranges 2,590-3,208g per day.