Friday, April 3, 2009

"T" is for Tapir!!! . . . and T-rex and Toucan

How about a nice T-rex dinosaur 3-D puzzle? We have TWO T-rex puzzles in stock. You can take your pick between the one with an open mouth (above) that looks like it's roaring, and the one below with his mouth looking a little more friendly. These puzzles can be taken apart and put together any number of times. We even give you a plastic case that looks like a fossil to keep the pieces in if you don't want to store it on your shelf in the finished condition. The case also makes these puzzles good for travelling.


And of course, at Tapir and Friends Wildlife World, T is ALWAYS for Tapir! Tapir conservation is the reason we started the gift shop in the first place, and we have lots of tapirs! The unusual European-style tapir bumper sticker shown above is always a favorite.

We also have tapir jewelry to match your favorite tapir species. Can you believe that? Corinna Bechko makes these for us with the colors to your specifications. The tapir above is a Malayan tapir, and we carry earrings, pins, and pendants. You choose from a selection of colors, and you choose a color for the bead on the earrings and pendant!

We think this nice round tapir earring could be either a mountain tapir or a Baird's tapir. It has no crest, so you'd have to use your imagination if you'd like it to be a lowland tapir. This tapir, too, comes in a variety of colors and bead types, and you can get it as a pin or pendant, also. Corinna also makes a charming striped baby tapir, which could easily pass for any species!

In the plaster and ceramics department, we have this wonderful baby mountain tapir figurine made by hand in Colombia by tapir researcher and artist Sergio Sandoval especially for the Tapir Preservation Fund. Our baby tapir was first moulded in clay, then cast in plaster. The paint is all done by hand.

Oops, how did the toucan get here? He's interrupted our flow of tapirs, but we're going to let him stay. "T" is clearly also for toucan! We have this toucan in the stuffed animal form you see here, but we also have toucans made of plastic. We have have toucan jewelry made by Corinna! Come see all of our cool and charming toucan toys and gifts!

Now that we've had our toucan break, we're back to tapirs! Yes, we have so many, we haven't even put all of them on the blog. You can see our full collection of tapirs here. Above, you see our stuffed tapir, Yanisa. She's made by Hansa and everyone loves her!

These four tapirs (one of each species) show clearly differentiated traits. They're made by a Canadian biologist who loves animals so much that he got his PhD and works in a zoo. He knits each tapir for us by hand, and we've had these popular and lovable animals in stock for about 10 years or maybe longer.

Believe it or not, it's hard to find plastic tapirs! This nice example of a Malayan or Asian tapir is comparatively new to us.

Well, here we go. "T" is for Tapir! Audrey Jakab created this lowland tapir design and donated it to us in the year 2000. It's been one of our all-time favorite gift shop tapirs for nine years. We sell this design as a t-shirt and as a sweatshirt.

And this Baird's tapir t-shirt and sweatshirt have been with us even longer - since 1999! The lettering is not crooked. Years ago when we made our first scan, we didn't get it straight on the scanner. We promise, the type is straight on the shirt! It's funny how you get used to something. This scan has been with us for ten whole years and feels just like family :) Come along and join us, too! Wear tapirs - they're great for all occasions, and you can help let people know how important it is to preserve them in the wild. Your tapir shirt will make a great conversation piece!

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