TWO tiger cubs born at Chester Zoo last month are starting to venture out and meet their public. (Picture credits Ralph Dickinson and Steve Weaver)
The Sumatran siblings were born to seven-year-old mum Kirana on Sunday, June 2 after a pregnancy lasting around 150 days. The father is six-year-old Fabi.
The two new arrivals are a rare breed and are classed by conservation experts as being critically endangered.
The Sumatran tiger is one of the rarest big cat species in the world and it’s believed there are only 300-400 left in the wild, so the international breeding programme is vital in terms of creating a viable back-up population.
Sumatran tigers are the smallest species of tiger in the world and can only be found on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Their stripes are narrower and closer together than on many other sub-species, which make them highly adapted to moving stealthily through dense forest.
In the wild only about 7% of their original habitat remains and they are poached for traditional medicine.
A zoo spokesman said: “The cubs are so tiny that they’re sometimes a little tricky to spot.
“However, they do seem to be becoming more and more confident now and as a result, more and more visitors have managed to catch a glimpse over the last few days.”
It will be a few weeks yet until keepers can discover the sexes of the tiny duo and a decision can be made on their names.
