Denver Zoo Welcomes Baby Baku

The Denver Zoo is celebrating the recent birth of an animal on the endangered species list: a Malayan Tapir named Baku. The calf, whose name is the Japanese word for "tapir," is the second born to mother Rinny and father Benny. A baku is also a spirit in Asian folklore that protects against evil and wards off the nightmares of children.

Baku's birth was free of complications, as opposed to that of his older brother Dumadi, born in December of 2012. Dumadi had liquid in his lungs at birth and was unable to breathe until a member of the zoo staff performed "mouth to snout resuscitation."

See more pictures of Baku and his family at Zooborns.