Tapir makes its mark in school during exam

 

The tapir wandering about the school compound. It fell into a drain while trying to eat leaves from a jackfruit tree. (Bernama pic)

KUANTAN: Students of SMK Sungai Soi here sitting for the SPM examination had a surprise visitor at school today. A tapir strayed into the school compound this morning, and then fell into a drain. The endangered animal was finally rescued seven hours later.

The school principal, Zolkifli Abd Ghani said he was informed by the staff on duty about the animal that showed up in the school compound at about 10.30am. He contacted the rescue team.

He said the Civil Defence Force (CDF) arrived half an hour later to rescue the tapir that had fallen into the school drain.

“This is not the first time this has happened. We were only worried that the animal might wander into the examination hall and disrupt the exams,” he told Bernama.

Pahang Wildlife and National Parks (Wildlife) department director, Rozidan Md Yasin said its members successfully rescued the animal which weighed about 200kg to 250kg, six hours later.

He said the adult male tapir was believed to have fallen into a drain at the school while eating the leaves of a jackfruit tree nearby.

“There was a wound on the back of the tapir due to the fall but initial observations showed no injury to the leg.

“We will treat the animal before releasing it back into the jungle,” he said

Meanwhile, a Pahang CDF spokesman said an emergency call was received at 10.58am today before six personnel were sent to the scene.

“The rescue operation was quite challenging as the tapir was huge and had fallen into a narrow drain. We tried removing it with a rope but failed.

“So we contacted Perhilitan to ask for its help, and the animal was rescued at about 5.10pm,” he said. - FMT