Tapir Wanders Into Melaka Hotel & Patiently Waits For The Lift
Perhaps pandas aren't the only animals that hate stairs.
By Kay Ng — 03 Jan 2023, 03:30 PM
A Malayan Tapir shocked many when it turned up at Estadia Hotel in Melaka on new year's day, 1 January
Initially spotted at the hotel's parking lot, it later wandered into the building. At one point, the tapir was captured on video casually waiting for a lift.
"We suspect that the animal got lost after coming out of the jungle to forage for food," state Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) director Mohd Firdaus Mahmood told New Straits Times.
"It ended up wandering into the hotel grounds and all the way up to the fifth floor using the staircase on the side of the hotel building."
However, seeing as the tapir had been 'unlawfully' using the hotel's amenities for free, the hotel crasher had to be forcibly removed
The Melaka Tengah Fire and Rescue Services Department were called around 9.04am to capture and remove the disgruntled animal, according to operations chief Sofian Hassan.
"We contacted Perhilitan and asked for their assistance [in] an operation to capture the tapir."
"The Perhilitan team fired three tranquilliser darts before the animal fell to the ground," he added.
The entire operation took more than five hours to pull off, ending at about 2.30pm.
The furry trespasser will be temporarily housed at Melaka Zoo before hopefully turning a new leaf at the National Wildlife Sanctuary Centre in Sungkai, Perak.
