Today marked a special occasion at Hamilton Zoo as about 100 tiger-lovers gathered to witness a delightful surprise.
Two Sumatran tiger cubs came into the world as new year blessings on January 3, and today’s celebration was to unveil the gender of both cubs.
Tiger Scout, the proud father, took the lead in the gender reveal.
However, his attention seemed to sway towards the tempting food in the gender boxes in the enclosure, diverting him from the excitement of his offspring.
Joe Henderson, the zoo’s visitor operations manager, revealed the gender instead.
Both tiger cubs, wait for it ... are strong and healthy baby girls.
At two weeks old, the cubs weighed in at 3.028kg and 2.861kg, and Richard Sim, head veterinarian at Hamilton Zoo, said the larger cub has a feisty personality and likes to vocalise, while the smaller one is quieter and more observant.
Henderson said the initial plan was for Scout to show the audience the inside of each box to reveal the gender.
“It’s always complicated with wild animals. We can hope they follow the script but they don’t necessarily read the script and sometimes they’re more interested in playing in the pond.
“I mean how can you blame them? He’s just having a good little morning swim.”
He also said Scout may never meet his babies, but the cubs are recovering well with their mother, Kirana.
“Tigers are solitary animals in the wild and he’ll be curious once they’re out and running around, but there won’t likely be much interaction between them. He hasn’t met them yet.
“The cubs are doing very well and they’re just going through the natural stages. They’re obviously both happy, healthy, strong baby girls, and they’re doing well with Kirana.
“They’re putting on around 1kg a week.”
Te Kaaroro Nature Precinct director Baird Fleming said the two females were a great addition to the zoo and to the future breeding of this critically endangered species.
”Names have not been decided. There is still some talk about what approach we will take to name the cubs. We hope to have some public involvement; but we don’t yet know what that looks like.”
Visitors came from all around Hamilton to experience this momentous occasion, including one family from Auckland who hold annual passes to the zoo.
Hamilton mayor Paula Southgate was also in attendance, and it’s almost as if Scout knew that, as he jumped up on the window in a bid to greet the Mayor.
“He knows what’s what”, she jokingly said.
Southgate said attending the reveal was a special moment not only for her but also for the city council.
“Our zoo does a great job in the conservation of critically endangered species like these majestic big cats, so two new females is something to really celebrate.
“This was part of council’s commitment to making a fun city with lots to do. I am passionate about our wonderful zoo, and this was a special moment I didn’t want to miss.”
Henderson said, they’re we’re looking forward to the coming weeks or months to get the cubs sightly more autonomous.
“In the not too distant future, we’re excited for them to be out for everyone else to see.”
Kirana and the cubs currently have access to an enclosure and an off-display den. When they are ready, Kirana and the cubs will venture out for people to see.
Meanwhile, the Zoo has installed a monitor in the viewing area of the tiger enclosure to regularly update visitors with footage from the den. The zoo is also providing regular updates on its Facebook page.
The Hamilton cubs are the first to be born at the zoo since the birth of Kirana and her brother, Kembali, in 2014.
Scout was born at the Australia Zoo and was previously kept at Christchurch’s Orana Wildlife Park, before he was brought to his Hamilton residence in August last year as part of a breeding programme to conserve the species.
Malisha Kumar is a multimedia journalist based in Hamilton. She joined the Waikato Herald in 2023 after working for Radio 1XX in Whakatāne.
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