Animal Diaries Archive

Cubs, cubs and more cubs!

25 April 2008

Through our animal diaries, you have probably heard a lot about our three gorgeous Bengal Tiger cubs. They are growing fast; now nine months of age and weighing in at around 60kg each! They are having lots of fun running amok around the tiger facility including showing off for the crowds when they go walking in the Zoo, and playing in the tiger temple.

They have also been fortunate enough to have a couple of new keepers join the team. Not only does that mean more people to cuddle and play with, but also more walks and more enrichment! They are also having fun integrating and playing with our five adult tigers. So it’s an action-packed fun time for the Bengal cubs at the moment. But our Bengal cubs are no longer the smallest tigers in our tiger family... they were recently superseded by a litter of younger Sumatran cubs who arrived at the Zoo only a few months ago. The two girls and one boy were born at a facility in Indonesia and they are the first Sumatran Tiger cubs to be brought into Australia from Indonesia in 27 years! Their unique bloodlines will be instrumental in the breeding program that will be initiated in the near future.

There are only a few hundred Sumatran Tigers left in the wild so captive breeding programs are very important in this critical stage in their conservation. Like our other tigers, these little guys will also be ambassadors for wild tigers - helping to raise much needed funds to send to tiger projects in South East Asia. They have already raised a stack of money for conservation by allowing themselves to be named via auction. The auctions are now being finalised and we will have three names for these gorgeous cubs really soon.

The three Sumatran Tiger cubs are now 4 months of age and are only around 20kg each - weighing in at a lot less than all our other tigers who range from 60-160kg! They are also having a ball running around our facility, playing with their keepers and going for walks in the Zoo. All of our cubs are now involved in our tiger experiences, so if you are keen to get right up close with this beautiful and critically endangered species, be sure to book in for a Tiger Experience! All the proceeds from these experiences go back into helping wild tigers. This wonderful species is doing it tough in the wild, so it’s important for us to do as much as we can to help save them.