Kirana is the zoo’s youngest female tiger and their future breeding female. She was born at Hamilton Zoo to Oz and Sali. Her intended mate has just arrived from Orana Wildlife Park. If successful, the zoo will welcome their first cubs since 2014.
@steveroberts Thank you. This must be her favourite spot in the exhibit as I’ve seen her there several times. She and her mother often used to sit alongside each other, but since Sali was transferred to Auckland Zoo (and returned) they can no longer be housed together.
Its a shame that Sali's time at Auckland meant that upon return her and Kirana could not be housed together anymore. But sounds like they had quite the mother-daughter bonding prior, and would of been wonderful seeing them sitting alongside eachother in the past.
@steveroberts It is a shame and delayed Hamilton receiving the male from Orana. Sali and Kirana would have had to have been seperated when she gave birth though, so long term it was inevitable.
On that note, I wish Australasian zoos would allow male Sumatran tigers access to their cubs. There’s countless examples of this being done successfully in Europe and is so enriching for the cats. I believe Nico and Meta are the only pair that this has been done with in the region.
I agree, I suppose (saying something here you would already of thought about and contemplated) that in our region there's apprehension about if the male Sumatran Tiger acts badly to the cubs which pretty much would end in fatality almost all the time would imagine. But I wish our region felt the confidence to follow European zoos practice with it. I gather Nico was quite placid for a male individual (around Meta and offspring that is), something Shiva seemed to of inherited from him.
@steveroberts There’s definitely a reluctance to introduce the male because of the potential for risks. Some tigers like Satu at Taronga were notoriously aggressive, but others like Oz at Auckland/Hamilton was noted to be a docile male that cohabited with an elderly female in his remaining years. He and Sali would have been excellent candidates when they bred in 2014.
Shiva was placid too, as you note. One article I read described how fiery Selatan was - so I assume her attitude towards him discouraged staff from bringing their cubs into the mix in 1995. There’s photos of Shiva and Selatan together in 1997. I’d love to know if this was a mating attempt. Selatan had fertility issues, but eventually produced a third litter (non surviving) in 2001. Shiva died the following year in 2002. Postcards from the Zoo (2002) noted the zoo were hoping they’d breed again.
