World Tapir Day!

[The Stig]

Could someone reach Dr. Peterson for comment, please?

World Tapir DaY: Raising Awareness of Tapirs Since 2008
World Tapir Day is celebrated on 27 April each year - this makes 2021 the fourteenth celebration of it. Regardless of whether you are a tapir fan or whether you have only just discovered the world of tapirs, you will find a wide range of information on this site about World Tapir Day.

If you are new to the World Tapir Day community, you may wish to read some of the FAQs on this site to learn about the wider goals of World Tapir Day. These goals extend beyond raising awareness of the four extant tapir species in Central and South America and in Southeast Asia.

The World Tapir Day site isn't just an information resource. It also aims to develop a community around tapir awareness and conservation. Please join the Facebook group and follow World Tapir Day on Twitter and Instagram to be part of the effort to save tapirs.

There is also the World Tapir Day store, which raises funds to support tapir conservation projects worldwide. All funds raised through the store go towards tapir conservation projects. Since its founding, WTD has supported the Belize Zoo, the World Land Trust and the Rainforest Trust with their tapir conservation activities and through the purchasing of land to protect tapir habitats.

All tapir species face the threat of extinction. Saving tapirs helps to save rainforests and other habitats, thereby helping to save the planet and mitigate the effect of climate change.

Link: https://www.tapirday.org/

[drumdude]

In case anyone isn't familiar with Dan's famous tapir argument, here it is from 2004:

Tapir as "Horse." As Professor Sorenson and others have repeatedly pointed out, the practice of naming flora and fauna is far more complicated than critics of the Book of Mormon have been willing to admit. For instance, people typically give the names of familiar animals to animals that have newly come to their attention.

Think, for instance, of sea lions, sea cows, and sea horses. When the Romans, confronting the army of Pyrrhus of Epirus in 280 BC, first encountered the elephant, they called it a Lucca bos or "Lucanian cow." The Greeks' naming of the hippopotamus (the word means "horse of the river" or "river horse") is also a good example. (Some will recall that the hippopotamus is called a Nilpferd, a "Nile horse," in German.) When the Spanish first arrived in Central America, the natives called their horses and donkeys tzimin, meaning "tapir." The Arabs' labeling of the turkey as an Ethiopian or Roman rooster (dik al-abash or dik rumi), the Conquistadors' use of the terms lion and tiger to designate the jaguar, and the fact that several Amerindian groups called horses deer represent but a few more examples of a very well-attested global phenomenon. The Nephites too could easily have assigned familiar Old World names to the animals they discovered in the New.

Larson dismisses Sorenson's suggestion that the Mesoamerican tapir may have been considered by some Book of Mormon writers to be a kind of "horse" or donkey, declaring that the tapir is much more like a pig (pp. 192—93). Here, though, it is important to remember that Sorenson was comparing the horse to the larger Mesoamerican tapir (Tapiris bairdii) and not one of the smaller species. It is also noteworthy that Sorenson is not the only scholar to suggest the similarity. Kamar Al-Shimas notes that in contrast to pigs, the tapir is one of the cleanest of animals. Hans Krieg likewise feels that the comparison with the pig is unfortunate.

Whenever I saw a tapir, it reminded me of an animal similar to a horse or a donkey. The movements as well as the shape of the animal, especially the high neck with the small brush mane, even the expression on the face is much more like a horse's than a pig's. When watching a tapir on the alert, . . . as he picks himself up when recognizing danger, taking off in a gallop, almost nothing remains of the similarity to a pig.

"At first glance," note Hans Frädrich and Erich Thenius, "the tapirs' movements also are not similar to those of their relatives, the rhinoceros and the horses. In a slow walk, they usually keep the head lowered." When one observes them running, however, this changes:

In a trot, they lift their heads and move their legs in an elastic manner. The amazingly fast gallop is seen only when the animals are in flight, playing, or when they are extremely excited. The tapirs can also climb quite well, even though one would not expect this because of their bulky figure. Even steep slopes do not present obstacles. They jump vertical fences or walls, rising on their hindlegs and leaping up.

While most species of tapir are much smaller, Baird's tapir, the Mesoamerican species native to Mexico and Guatemala, is rather large. Adult tapirs of this species are about a meter high, nearly two meters in length, and can weigh over 300 kilograms. As one authority notes, "This is the largest of the Tapirs, equaling a small donkey in bulk and sometimes almost so in size." Likewise, A. Starker Leopold describes Baird's tapir as "the size of a pony but chunkier and with much shorter legs." Ernest P. Walker describes them as "about the size of a donkey."

Tapirs can also be domesticated quite easily if they are captured when young. Young tapirs who have lost their mothers are easily tamed and will eat from a bowl. They like to be petted and will often allow children to ride on their backs. "Ordinarily, the tapir makes no vocal sound, although when alarmed or excited it emits a sharp squeal like that of a horse."

Since many authorities on animals have compared the tapirs to horses or donkeys, one cannot so easily dismiss the suggestion that Nephi and others might have as well.

https://web.archive.org/web/20081028232 ... m=1&id=531

[The Stig]

Thank you, drumdude. What better day to re-visit Dr. Peterson's (in)famous treatise on the ever-so-valuable-to-the Nephites Tapir?

[drumdude]

Historically accurate depiction of the Book of Mormon battles:

[Moksha]

Shout out to Dr. Daniel C. Peterson, for his help in highlighting the importance of tapirs in Mormon history.

[Philo Sofee]

Historically accurate depiction of the Book of Mormon battles:

[sock puppet]

Historically accurate depiction of the Book of Mormon battles:

Is it appropriate to exclaim "yee-haw" when riding a tapir?

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

This is Mr. Peterson’s ‘Clement Clarke Moore’ moment. The latter is known for being the author of The Night Before Christmas, though he considered himself a serious scholar, and would be mortified to know he’s remembered for a charming bedtime story. DCP will be quickly forgotten, but for one thing. TAPIRS ARE HORSES.



It’s poetic.

- Doc

[Dr Exiled]

Historically accurate depiction of the Book of Mormon battles:

What a fighting force those Nephites on tapirs were!

[Philo Sofee]

Historically accurate depiction of the Book of Mormon battles:

What a fighting force those Nephites on tapirs were!

No wonder the Lamanites won....