A STRAY tapir weighing about 250-290kg was found on the fifth floor car park of a hotel in Banda Hilir, Malacca today, before it was captured and relocated to Malacca Zoo.

State Department of Wildlife Protection and National Parks (Perhilitan) director Mohd Firdaus Mahmood said the task of capturing and transporting the animal was carried out together with the Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) and took over four hours.

“Perhilitan has been observing and trying to locate the tapir for the past two weeks. It is believed to have strayed from its original habitat, which is the forest area in the north of Malacca, bordering Negri Sembilan and Johor.

“We also received information and calls about this tapir in several places but we were not able to track it down. It was finally found today, lost on the fifth floor of a hotel car park,” he told reporters here today.

Firdaus also said a total of 10 Perhilitan members were also dispatched to the scene and waited for the tapir to calm down before it was captured.

He added that the tapir also suffered minor injuries on its legs and was transferred to Malacca Zoo for treatment before being sent to the National Wildlife Rescue Centre in Sungkai, Perak.

Meanwhile, Malacca JBPM operations commander Senior Fire Officer II Sopian Hassan said his department received a distress call at about 9.04am and eight firemen from Melaka Tengah fire and rescue Station were dispatched to the scene, and added the effort to rescue the tapir ended at 2.30pm. – Bernama, January 1, 2023.