Two Siberian tiger cubs were born at a zoo in Minnesota, USA, in May, the latest additions to a species that numbers only a few hundred specimens left, and were presented to the public for the first time.
They are vaccinated and weigh nearly 20 kilos: two massive babies have just laid their paws on the grass for the first time at the Minnesota Zoo in the United States.
As reported by NBC News, two Siberian tiger cubs were born in captivity last May. A “precious” litter for this species that was on the brink of extinction. The pair was just presented to the public for the first time on Wednesday, September 11.
The little animals named Andrei and Amaliya are “doing well,” zoologist Trista Fischer assured. An important point for this species with a high infant mortality rate. Their mother, Dari, aged 12, is also in good shape.
“We’ve been monitoring them very closely. Dari has been fantastic. She’s given them exceptional maternal attention. Today, we’ve reached the stage where they’re fully vaccinated and they now weigh between 18 and 20 kilos,” the caregiver told the American press.
An endangered species
The two newborns are the latest in a long family maintained by the zoo as part of a conservation program. The Siberian tigers that reside there have produced 57 cubs, 46 of which have survived to adulthood. Of those 46, 21 have given birth to litters of their own, making 86 more cubs.
Andrey and Amaliya are “very valuable” specimens in a context of catastrophic decline in the number of these big Siberian cats, a species native to Russia and China.
Today, there are only a few hundred Siberian tigers left in the wild, between 400 and 500 according to experts, as reported by the AP agency. In the 1930s and 1940s, the species even came close to total extinction. In the future, experts hope to be able to help the population of these wild animals grow by bringing them closer to captive specimens.
For now, the cubs will stay with their mother until they are 18 months old. Then Andrei, the male, will be put away, as a tiger of that age would do in the wild. The female, meanwhile, is expected to stay with her mother until she is two years old. Then she could be sent to another zoo to eventually mate.
