TIGER TIMES. Mother Jaya with her two Sumatran tiger cubs were seen by the public for the first time July 23. The cubs, the first of their kind in Tacoma’s history, will be on view daily at Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium’s Asian Forest Sanctuary. (PHOTO COURTESY OF PDZA)
A crowd of spectators let out an audible gasp when zookeeper and staff biologist Andy Goldfarb opened the door to the small cage that held Tacoma’s very own Sumatran tiger cubs.
At a little after 11 a.m. on July 23, the two fuzzy, orange, eight-week-old cubs crept into the public’s view for the first time.
Next, the cubs’ mother, Jaya, entered the exhibit at Point Defiance Zoo’s Asian Forest Sanctuary. The cubs, nicknamed Squiggy and Peace, then quickly toddled on their over-sized cub paws to their mother’s side.
It was the first time Tacoma witnessed a mother tiger and her young in the Zoo’s history.
“It’s fun for all of us to watch her out here with her cubs,” said Goldfarb, who works with the cats at Point Defiance. “This is a treat for all of us.”
Squiggy and Peace were born May 25 in captivity from mother Jaya, who has been at the zoo for eight years, and father Bali, who arrived in late 2009.
Zoo staff had been trying to mate Jaya with Bali’s brother, Java with no luck for several years before Bali arrived.
In April, it was determined that Jaya was pregnant with Bali’s cubs.
Prior to the cubs’ first public appearance, they spent time growing and bonding with their mother behind the scenes. The cubs were each two pounds at birth and now weigh about 14 pounds each.
“The babies are doing great and their mother is amazing,” Goldfarb said.
The two new cubs bring the total number of Sumatran tigers in North American zoos to 74. With fewer than 300 left worldwide and only two litters born in North America this year, the cubs are a significant addition to the species as a whole, not only by increasing the numbers but also by diversifying the gene pool.
Right now the Zoo has a full house with a total of five Sumatran tigers on exhibit.
The cubs are expected to stay with their mother for about 18 months. In the wild, mother tigers begin to push away from their young at about that time. The cubs will later be transferred to another zoo location in the Northwest. Java will also be transferred to another zoo upon recommendations from the breeding program.
Zoo Curator Karen Goodrowe-Beck expects Jaya to remain at Point Definance, as well as Bali - who is currently receiving chemotherapy treatment for lymphoma.
An estimated viewing schedule for the cubs can be found online at www.pdza.org. The cubs’ official names will be announced following the closure of a public vote July 29.
