Zoo staff use rescue breaths to save newborn tapir

Staff at the Denver Zoo said they used “mouth to snout rescue breaths” to save the life of a newborn Malayan tapir that was having problems breathing.

The Denver Post reported the mother, Rinny, was having trouble giving birth last month, and a staffer freed the newborn from its amniotic sac. A staff member then breathed into the calf’s snout and helped it get liquid out of its lungs.

Rinny joined the zoo in November 2010 and lives in the new elephant exhibit. She made news in June when she escaped by squeezing through the cables around her enclosure. A fence separated Rinny from guests.

Fewer than 2,000 Malayan tapirs are believed to live in the wild.