Tiger moves into the zoo with high hopes - "offspring genetically extremely valuable"

Created: 12/29/2022, 8:32 p.m

By: Eric Sharp

Sumatran tiger Emas has found a new home at Frankfurt Zoo.

There is great hope that he will get along well with Tigress Cinta.

Frankfurt – Shortly before the turn of the year, Frankfurt Zoo welcomed a new resident.

Sumatran tiger Emas has been in Frankfurt since Tuesday (December 27), as the zoo announced.

The joy should be particularly great with a conspecific.

Because Emas will keep Tigress Cinta company in the future.

In order for the two to be able to pass the time together in the future, however, Emas had to work through a whole series of appointments.

“On December 14, the Sumatran tiger Emas came to Frankfurt from the Rotterdam Zoo.

After a few veterinary tests, he was able to move from the quarantine station to the cat jungle two weeks later," writes Frankfurt Zoo, as reported by fnp.de.

Sumatran tiger Emas has moved to Frankfurt Zoo.

© Frankfurt Zoo

Frankfurt Zoo: Entry of Emas fuels hope for offspring in Sumatran tigers

But now everything is done and Emas is Cinta's new neighbor.

Frankfurt is already the third city in which the Sumatran tiger lives.

Emas was born in Dublin in 2009, he went to Rotterdam in 2015 – and now to Frankfurt.

The hope of those responsible at Frankfurt Zoo is clear: offspring.

Because according to the zoo, neither Emas nor Cinta have so far provided for descendants.

In order for this to happen in Frankfurt, Emas and Cinta have to get together first.

“Emas is a calm and sociable tiger cat.

We hope that he can lure the somewhat shy tigress out of her reserve.

Tigers are loners and usually only come together during the mating season, but the proximity of a conspecific can still have a positive effect," says zoo director Dr.

Christina Violin.

Sumatran tiger at Frankfurt Zoo: "Offspring genetically extremely valuable"

Since the two older tigers have never reproduced, their offspring would be genetically extremely valuable for the zoo population, said the Frankfurt Zoo.

"If we realize that the two get along well, we will let Emas and Cinta together in due course.

If they like each other, there is hope for offspring,” says Geige.

The tiger subspecies living in Sumatra is extremely rare.

Estimates by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) assume that 400 animals still live in their ancestral homeland.

Above all, poaching and large-scale deforestation and the loss of natural prey are putting pressure on the remaining population.

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The Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS) has been committed to protecting the lowland rainforests in the Bukit Tiga Puluh region on Sumatra since 2000.

This biodiversity hotspot is home to many endangered species, including orangutans, elephants and tigers.

With income from the voluntary nature conservation euro introduced in 2021, the Frankfurt Zoo supports, among other things, the work of the FZS in Sumatra.

(esa/pm)

Most recently, it worked with a rare predator at Frankfurt Zoo with offspring.