Individual Tiger Facts

Female: JoJo. Born March 15, 1992. Transferred from Memphis in 2001 JoJo had successfully raised two cubs in Memphis. She is an excellent mother.

Male: Rakata. Born August 4, 1993. Raised at the San Antonio Zoo. He was then sent to Toronto with his brother, where he spent several years. He came to WPZ in 1998. An inexperienced breeder, he was quite shy around aggressive, enthusiastic females. He has a very easy-going nature.

Female cub: Born December 16, 2002. Weighed approximately 2.3 pounds (1.04 kg) at birth.

Female cub: Born December 16, 2002. Weighed approximately 2.3 pounds (1.04 kg) at birth.

Reproduction

• Breeding is a noisy affair and looks quite aggressive. Serious injuries can occur.
• Gestation lasts from 95-112 days. The average gestation period is 100 days.
• Females give birth in a secluded den, which is usually located among the roots of a large tree, in a rocky outcropping or natural cave. They may have several satellite dens, and are known to intermittently move the cubs from one site to another, in an attempt to deter possible detection and predation of their young.
• While males and females may stay together for several days during an estrous cycle, breeding is quick. Each breeding encounter lasts for only several seconds.

Life Cycle

• Sumatran tigers normally live solitary lives, except during the mating season, or when females are raising cubs. However, small groups have been observed sharing a kill, although, this is rare. This may be due, in part, to the loss of habitat, which forces tigers into closer contact with each other.
• Litter size ranges from one to six young, but two to four is most common.
• Sumatran cubs are born with their eyes closed and are helpless. They weigh about 2 pounds (.9 kg) at birth.
• Their eyes will open in 7-10 days.
• Tiger cubs are fully armed at birth. They have sharp claws that can’t be retracted during their first weeks of life. Later, with increased motor coordination, they will be able to fully retract their claws like all felids but the cheetah.
• Cubs nurse for up to six months and begin trying meat at 2 to 3 months of age.

Raising Young

• In the wild, male Sumatran tigers do not participate in raising cubs. Once breeding is completed, the male leaves the area (or is chased off by the female). The female rears her cubs alone. At WPZ, our male and cubs have limited contact with each other through a screen door, where they can see, hear, smell and communicate with each other. No physical contact, however, is allowed.
• Under stress, females have been known to kill their own cubs. They should be left undisturbed while the cubs are young.
• While feeding on nutrient rich mother’s milk, the cubs grow quickly, nearly doubling in size in the first week.
• The cubs sprout their first teeth within a few weeks of birth.
• At 5 to 6 months of age, the cubs will follow their mother on hunts.
• Cubs hone their hunting skills under the watchful eye of their mother until 18-30 months of age. After this, they hunt independently and set out to establish their own territories.

WPZ’s Tiger Cub Births: A Momentous Occasion

• The birth of two Sumatran tiger cubs is very significant for Woodland Park Zoo and the Species Survival Plan (SSP). Only one Sumatran tiger birth occurred in North American zoos in 2001 and the two born in 2002 at WPZ for a total of three. Zoos have been struggling to breed tigers because of an aging tiger population, a limited number of breeding animals and a low birth rate. There are currently 27 North American institutions housing a total population of 57 Sumatran tigers: 31 males and 26 females (including our two cubs). This litter marks the second for JoJo , who gave birth in 1998 to two cubs at Memphis Zoo. Rakata, our male tiger, was born at San Antonio Zoo. He had never sired any offspring prior to this birth. He came on breeding loan to WPZ in May 1998 and JoJo in May 2001. The pair was matched by the SSP for Sumatran tigers.
• WPZ applied hormonal analyses to fecal samples to determine when JoJo was cycling (in estrous) and most likely to become pregnant. In addition, behavioral observations such as JoJo’s odd behavior of sitting in her drinking bowls and her body language toward the male indicated that JoJo had indeed gone into estrous. After many matings, further fecal analyses indicated a pregnancy or pseudo pregnancy. However, since pseudo pregnancies are rare in Sumatran tigers, a den box was readied for the expected birth. JoJo and Rakata were put back together when she would have cycled again. We were also able to tell by their behavior that she was not in estrous a second time and was most likely pregnant. They were friendly toward each other, but no breeding attempts were made.

Interesting Tiger Facts

• In Asian cultures, tigers are feared and revered, admired and distrusted, depending on the context. There is often an ambivalence regarding sources of deadly power, (like the tiger). It can help or harm you, save or destroy you.
• When you shave a tiger’s fur, the stripes remain on the skin.
• The use of prescription Viagra® may be a lifesaver for tigers. It is hoped that the use of Viagra® will reduce the desire to kill tigers to utilize their body parts for traditional aphrodisiacs.
• The Sumatran tiger has the darkest coat of all tiger subspecies. Its broad, black stripes are closely spaced and sometimes doubled. Unlike the Siberian tiger, the Sumatran tiger has striped forelegs.
• Like a human fingerprint, no two tigers have the same pattern of stripes on their coats.
• Tigers are excellent swimmers and can easily cross rivers and lakes 3.7-5 miles wide.
• Tigers fail at least 90% of the time in catching prey during hunts.
• Sumatran tigers are the smallest tiger subspecies.
• Sumatran tigers have the most facial fur of the tigers. They have a scruff or small mane.
• In Indonesia, a stuffed Sumatran tiger comes with a $2,500 price tag. Tiger penises are sold as aphrodisiacs, while bones, claws and teeth are ground up and used for traditional Chinese remedies for ailments like arthritis and rheumatism. The illegal trade in tiger parts is rampant.
• Tigers tend to ambush their prey from behind. So in order to deter a possible attack, people in some countries wear masks on the backs of their heads when working in their fields or walking in known tiger territory.

The vanishing species

Tigers are vanishing at a staggering rate in the wild. Today, less than 8,000 wild tigers are estimated to exist. An estimated 400 Sumatran tigers remain in the wild. The remaining four tiger subspecies are severely endangered: Amur (Siberian), Indochinese, Bengal and South China. The South China tiger is the most critically endangered with a mere 20-30 left in their native habitat in central and eastern China. Recent research shows the South China may no longer even exist in the wild. Bali, Javan and Caspian tigers have become extinct in the last 40 years.

The main threats to wild tigers are poaching and extreme habitat loss. Wild tigers are still being poached today for their body parts, which are used in traditional Chinese medicine. Their bones, whiskers and other body parts capture a lot of money on the black market. While the exact number of tigers being poached is unknown, some sources have estimated that one tiger a day is being killed in India.

For more information about the plight of tigers, visit www.5tigers.org.

Ambassadors to wild tigers

The cubs are ambassadors to their wild counterparts. As we become more urbanized, many people lack the opportunity to directly experience wildlife and wild places. Encountering the tiger cubs and our other wildlife residents can help the zoo-going public make the connection between animals and the natural