[A hum of acknowledgement is all he offers regarding the topic of the tapirs. Perhaps, given time, he will grow to view them with the same gentle sort of pity as she does, but for now the indignity is still fresh.

He's far more interested in the rest she has to say, regardless. She sounds... unimpressed with the world at large, which could come with its own biases, but as a self-proclaimed woman of science and one who has shown generosity at every step in this conversation, he's willing to believe she speaks more truth than not. So he's willing to allow an undercurrent of anxiety to be heard in his voice when he says:]

And that the lands we hail from are not affected by our being here. Is there evidence of this, or must we take them at their word?

[He was kiiinda in the middle of something back home...]