Endangered tiger gives birth at Louisville Zoo for the first time in 20 years

LOUISVILLE, Ky. ( FOX 56 ) — A mama tiger has welcomed the Louisville Zoo’s first tiger cub in 20 years.

The Sumatran tiger cub, born at 7:40 p.m. on July 23, is the offspring of 16-year-old male Kami Sambal and 14-year-old female Jingga, the Louisville Zoo said.

“It’s been a long time since the Zoo has welcomed a tiger cub to our extended family and we are all excited by the arrival of this rare and endangered youngster,” said Louisville Zoo Director Dan Maloney. “I commend the Islands and Animal Health teams for their efforts and invite our community to come celebrate with us as we watch this precious cub grow and progress.”

Both mother and cub are “thriving,” according to zoo staff, and Jingga is demonstrating all of the appropriate behaviors of a mother tiger. For the time being, the baby will stay “behind the scenes,” bonding with Jingga. When the cub is ready to be introduced to the world, the zoo said staff will announce when and where online. Until then, Jingga and her cub can be viewed on the Louisville Zoo’s Tiger Cub Cam !

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The Louisville Zoo said that it hasn’t welcomed a Sumatran tiger cub since Leela, Jai, and Mohan were born in April 2004.

The Sumatran tiger is the last of the island tigers, according to the zoo, there are believed to be fewer than 400 of the endangered species still surviving in the wild. The tigers are only found in Sumatra and their habitat is threatened by the development of palm oil plantations.

Although the baby tiger doesn’t have a name yet, the zoo said that Norton Children’s Hospital will sponsor a name contest in the coming weeks.

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