I was visiting the zoo today and stopped by the tapir enclosure. One was sleeping right next to the glass. I noticed it has cloven hooves, more like a pig than a horse, which made me wonder if they are considered unclean animals?

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Tapir
looks like they are not kosher. Would a self respecting Jew ride, touch, raise unclean animals?

I don't know if they're clean or unclean, but I can tell you that they are NOT delicious. Just for the record.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/06/2013 12:04PM by nailamindi.

Silly, you don't eat them, you ride them:-) They are very clean animals. But God help you if they need to poop, I saw one at the zoo go into the water to do it, then swish his tail to float the poo away. Really makes it hard in the heat of battle!

Ask the rabbi: http://messiahtruth.yuku.com/topic/3853#.UgEt223TLJI

Dirty filthy work horses is what they are.

Who would eat a critter that you can use to pull a chariot? That wouldn't be too smart.

Put it in your backpack and save it for later....yum. Tapir's have a skunk-like secreting gland. Their meet is reported to taste like floating turds.

Tapirs excel in one department. They have a very long Joseph Smith.. er, I mean penis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_hDvnM_xao



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/06/2013 04:29PM by rationalguy.

I did a search for verses in the BoM that mention horses. Only one sort of could be interpreted as the Nephites eating the horses. So I guess you could raise a heard of tapirs as pack animals and stay kosher. Is there any evidence Native Americans used tapirs as pack animals?

See the bottom section of this page for a discussion on Tapirs, and their suitability as pack/domestic animals (spoiler: they are not suitable):
http://www.mormonmesoamerica.com/horses.html

In addition to the info there, looking at vet records for care of Tapirs in captivity shows that they are nearly blind in daylight (they are nocturnal), suffering serious eye and skin damage when exposed to light. They also have very tender feet with four splayed hooves on each foot around a central soft foot pad, which are designed for walking on mud and soft surfaces. Their feet ulcerate with over activity and if they are kept on hard surfaces.
http://www.tapirback.com/reprints/aazv1.htm

The concept of riding Tapirs or using them to pull chariots is ridiculous.

That might have actually been plausible.

Except llamas are more closely related to camels than horses, but strangely camels are not mentioned in the BoM. Maybe that's what cureloms are supposed to be.

I did find it interesting that the BoM has God threatening the Gentiles that if they are wicked he will take away all their horses.

3 Ne 21:14 Yea, wo be unto the Gentiles except they repent; for it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Father, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots;

Well, looks like God missed his chance to take all the gentiles horses away. Not many people relying on horses for transportation these days.

I get tired of the FARMS archeology. All these disparate elements are thousands of miles apart.

only if they have been cumom'd or violently curelomed.