This is one of the pair of Sumatran tigers resident at the zoo. Like many of their kind, these are threatened, with barely 400 left in the wild. They are threatened by loss of habitat, poaching for body parts for the Asia traditional medicines market, and adults are killed so the young can be captured and shipped off illegally to private collectors around the world. Finally, villagers bordering the wildlife reserves trespass into them to gather wood and other materials, occasionally get in a confrontation with a tiger, and may be injured or killed. As a result, villagers may kill multiple tigers in retaliation. This is a similar in nature to conflicts between farmers and elephants in India.
When once it was ok to just go and grab some animals in the wild, this is no longer possible . The Auckland Zoo is part of the international mixed genes program and our two tigers are from different parts of the US. They mated once already, but alas when the two cubs came to birth one was still born, so the mother immediately killed the other.
While this might seem cruel, it is perfectly normal, as nature drives her to make herself available to mate again as quickly as possible - given that keeping the cub would delay that by about 2 years. With a relatively high mortality rate in any case, depending on a single cub is not viable, and the female normally gives birth to between 2 and 4 cubs, thus reducing the risks. It is not unsimilar in principle to birds that often have at least two eggs (an heir and a spare), and will allow the stronger of the offspring to dominate and eventually expel or kill the weaker ones. Nature's tough...
So, here is the expectant mother, who is resting a lot in the shelter of her cave as she saves her energy for baby building. We hope she will produce a healthy litter this time in the next couple of months - apparently a normal gestation time is around 100 days.
In a effort to keep a viable population there is an international breeding program, with tigers from different locations being mated in the hope of avoiding inbreeding.
