Rare Tiger Cub Makes First Public Appearance
Tomorrow is Friday and if that didn’t put a smile on your smile then this surely will. An endangered Malayan tiger cub made her first public appearance at the Tampa Lowry Park Zoo this week.
Three-month old Berisi, playfully wrestled with her mother while exploring her new surroundings. The six pound cub is the first Malayan tiger to be born at Lowry Park Zoo. She spent her first few weeks bonding with mother Bzui in their den.
“It’s really exciting for us to able to see that, their interaction together,” said Katie, and staff member at Lowry Park Zoo.
“The cub is growing normally and nursing well,” said Dr. Larry Killmar, the Zoo’s Chief Zoological Officer. “Our Zoo is proud to be working to preserve a species like the Malayan tiger, which is facing a growing number of threats in the wild.”
To this day there are only 250 Malayan tigers left in the wild, which makes the species critically endangered, one step away from becoming extinct. Lowry Park Zoo is working to study the tigers to help maintain the population along with their breeding program as a part of the species survival plan.
The Malayan tiger subspecies is the smallest in size of all tigers species. They average 260 pounds for adult males and 220 pounds for adult females. The subspecies was not officially recognized until 2004. Poaching and rapid habitat decline are two of the main causes for their endangered status. Heightened human/animal conflict from expanding human development areas is another contributor to their decline in population.
Those interested in updates on the new baby cub are encouraged to follow Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo on Facebook and other social media.