Two Sumatran tigers were born at the end of March at the Amiens zoo, a rare event for the most endangered of all tiger species, the establishment said, rejoicing at this second birth in less than two years. The tiger of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, one of the smallest subspecies of the tiger family, is critically endangered, with its genetic heritage challenged by the isolation of surviving individuals. the wild state.
The tiger cubs, a male and a female, which measured approximately 20 cm and 800 grams when they were born on March 22, now weigh 3 kg and 2.5 kg respectively, and are beginning to open their eyes and move around. This birth comes 18 months after that of their big brother Pasaï, the first Sumatran tiger to be born at the Amiens zoo. Pasaï is due to leave for the Danish zoo in Aalborg by the summer, as part of a European exchange program intended to compensate for the decline in wild numbers.
“Relief population”
“We are far from the reintroduction (of these tigers into their natural environment, editor's note), our work (...) is to maintain the greatest possible genetic diversity of this species in captivity, a “rescue population””
in case of extinction, indicated the director of the Amiens Métropole zoo, Xavier Vaillant. Currently isolated, they should be visible to visitors by June. The little ones have not yet been named, the zoo said, inviting Internet users to participate in choosing their name via social networks.
Sumatran tigers, often hunted by poachers, are considered seriously endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), according to which there are fewer than 400 left in the wild. The animal must face an increased human presence and a disappearance of its natural habitat due to deforestation. In the wild, they are distributed in five areas of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, protected but isolated from each other, making their genetic mixing increasingly difficult.