CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cleveland Metroparks Zoo announced the birth of two Amur baby tigers, the first tigers to be born in the city in 20 years.
The male and female boys were born overnight between December 24th and 25th, just in time for their first Christmas party. The boys have been bottle-fed five times a day for the past few weeks, have gained weight, and have started to walk and open their eyes. The cubs will settle in the zoo’s Rosebrough Tiger Passage once they have gained strength and fitness.
Mother tigers usually look after their offspring closely for the first two years, but sometimes mothers can be overwhelmed with the experience, the zoo’s press release said. Zoya, the mother of the boys, has shown “minimal signs of maternal care,” so zoo animal and animal care experts helped raise the boys separately.
Anyone interested in seeing how the young are developing can check for the zoo’s updates social media. The public can also help name the boys.
Amur tigers are critically endangered and only around 400 to 500 live in their home region in the far east of Russia and northeast China. Tigers are also threatened by habitat loss and poaching.
