Two female and one male Sumatran tiger cubs made their first public debut on Friday at a Sydney zoo.
Sisters Mawar, which means “rose” in Indonesian, and Tengah Malam, which is for “midnight,” and their twin brother Pemarah, which means “archer,” were moved from their closed dens to the outdoor tiger compound.
Zookeepers from the Taronga Zoo exclaimed what a “wonderful success” it was, especially since Sumatran tigers are listed critically endangered specie by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
There are only 350 tigers remaining in patches of forest in Sumatra, an Indonesian island. Their habitats have been devastated by the construction of more palm oil plantations and the illegal wildlife trade.
“It’s such a shock that these three little cubs represent one percent of the remaining wild population, but with zoo-based conservation programs worldwide and the support of our guests here in Sydney, there’s still hope for the future of this species,” Louise Gilman, zookeeper, told AFP.
Gilman mentioned that Kartika, the cubs’ mother, will be challenged now that her cubs are moving to a larger space.
“Now that they are moving about a larger space and learning to climb terrain, she will have a much harder time controlling them,” Gilman said.
