They say that love knows no bounds and that’s certainly been the case for ZSL London Zoo’s two new tigers — who have travelled more than 22,000 kilometres to meet after some serious matchmaking efforts.
Flown around the world to their new home by international logistics company DHL, keepers have high hopes for male Jae Jae and female Melati who will play an important role in the breeding programme for critically endangered Sumatran tigers. Arriving at ZSL London Zoo this Sunday, Jae Jae, four years old, from Akron Zoo in Ohio, USA, has yet to meet Melati, also four years old, from Perth Zoo, Australia, after the pair were matched by the Sumatran tiger studbook — a global breeding programme coordinated by conservationists at ZSL London Zoo.
To help mimic the tigers’ natural behaviours where a male approaches a female’s turf, Melati arrived at ZSL London Zoo first so that she could mark her territory ahead of Jae Jae’s arrival.
“It’s no simple feat moving tigers around the world, and we enlisted the help of DHL to deliver our precious cargo for us — not only were Jae Jae and Melati treated like royalty, DHL completely rescheduled their flight plan to get them here on time”, Fitzpatrick said. Each accompanied by a zookeeper from ZSL London Zoo, the tigers demanded very little for such high-profile fliers; their hand luggage consisted of just 7.5 litres of water, and their in-flight meal was a tasty snack of 5 kgs of meat.
Keepers at ZSL London Zoo will spend the next few weeks settling Jae Jae and Melati into their new surroundings, before they become the first residents of ZSL London Zoo’s brand new Tiger Territory when it opens in spring 2013.
Footage of Jae Jae adapting to his new enclosure can be viewed here.
Why have these two tigers come all the way to ZSL London Zoo?
Each species in a breeding programme is managed by a studbook. Studbooks work much like an online dating programmes for animals! The studbook holder is responsible for pairing well-matched animals and recording details such as birth place and parentage to ensure a healthy and genetically-diverse population of animals in the breeding programme. As a matter of fact,
ZSL London Zoo coordinates the global breeding programme for Sumatran tigers. These two tigers, Melati from Perth Zoo and Jae Jae from Akron Zoo, were highlighted as being the best breeding pair of tigers to bring together for the brand new Tiger Territory exhibit at ZSL London Zoo. Hopefully it won’t be long until the pitter patter of tiny paws…
The above news item is reprinted from materials available at ZSL’s website. Original text may be edited for content and length.
(Source: ZSL News, 18.10.2012)
