Australasian Sumatran Tiger Population
- Thread starter Zoofan15
- Start date
I’m glad they’ve gone this route as opposed to importing one of Rahni’s sisters from Dreamworld. Several zoos have now tried and failed to breed with these ageing females, so a young tigress gives Adelaide Zoo the best chance of successfully breeding this species - which will be a first for them.
The updated populations are:
Adelaide Zoo:
1.0 Kembali (16/11/2014) Oz x Sali
0.1 Delilah (08/02/2016) Juma x Kaitlyn
Australia Zoo:
1.0 Juma (01/04/2004) Lari x Malu
1.0 Ranu (01/04/2004) Lari x Malu
0.1 Singha (01/04/2004) Lari x Malu
0.1 Kaitlyn (04/12/2007) Imported 2008
1.0 Hunter (22/08/2013) Ramalon x Kaitlyn
1.0 Nelson (03/06/2019) Ranu x Kaitlyn
1.0 Malcolm (18/02/2020) Ranu x Kaitlyn
0.1 Sallie (18/02/2020) Ranu x Kaitlyn
0.1 Sage (18/02/2020) Ranu x Kaitlyn
Note: I will post a full update of the Australasian tiger population (and my other Australasian population lists) next week.
It’s great to see another pairing in Australia.
I think we might be expecting another pairing with Hutan at Melbourne soon! The death of his mother Binjai has freed up space for a new female; and a keeper did say it’s in the works. Hopefully something comes of it as Melbourne haven’t bred Sumatran Tiger in more than a decade now.
That’s good to hear Melbourne Zoo are hoping to receive a tigress in the future. With the exception of Raja and Soraya’s aging daughters, all the females in the region are relatives of Hutan - and most of them, close relatives.
In my opinion, their best bet is to wait until Auckland Zoo breeds and then receive a female from them. Hutan will be in his mid teens by then (and hopefully still alive), but given he’s a third generation tiger, it’d make a valuable pairing.
Getting a female from overseas is also an option. With Hutan approaching 11 years of age I’d prefer the quickest option. Even with Covid delays ect, I think sourcing a female from overseas would be better rather than waiting for a female cub from the Auckland
pair which haven’t even arrived yet.
That could also work if Melbourne are willing to import. If they could import a young tigress, there’d also be the option of pairing that female with another younger male down the line (after breeding her with Hutan) e.g. one of the Auckland male offspring to create a very valuable bloodline.
It’d also be great to see Bashi contribute to the breeding programme as intros with Senja at Wellington haven’t progressed in the four years since they started. Personally, I’d like to see Melbourne swap males with Wellington and then import a female from overseas. They have a better breeding set up than Wellington and this would also create a valuable bloodline.
Yes, she’s a hybrid named Nika. She produced several cubs with Raja at Dreamworld.
Ah that’s it! Thank you, I was racking my brain trying to figure it out
Is there a reason why they’re not housed together, given they’ve bred together before?
Ah that’s it! Thank you, I was racking my brain trying to figure it out
No problem. My understanding is they proved a highly compatible pair - but now they’re in a new environment and Nika is post reproductive, they may appreciate their space.
I knew they were solitary, but given how small the second enclosure is compared to the main I assumed they wanted to pair them together. Thank you for that! Would be nice if they could have a breeding pair in the future - If only for me to see the cubs!
Potentially a male and female can live together - Oz (2004) and Mencari (2000) at Hamilton were an example of this and they were introduced when Mencari was elderly and post reproductive. Their relationship was truly a testament to Oz’s docile nature.
Sydney Zoo were originally planning to import a Sumatran tigress from the USA. It’s a shame these plans were canned as we could always do with more founders. Given Raja’s age, they won’t be breeding him again.
Since there’s no current genetic matches for Hutan within the region it seems the only option is to source a female from overseas.
The introductions over at Wellington are getting to be a joke now. It’s been four years and they haven’t even fully been introduced yet. If they’re not compatible, than why not move on, send one of them elsewhere and get a replacement.
Melbourne have two enclosures alongside a whole row of large cat cages behind the older Tiger exhibit (in the trail of the elephants). These have been used to hold Binjai and I think Sundar the Snow Leopard lives in one of them currently. Anyhow the complex is massive and Melbourne could definitely afford a breeding pair in the future.
Chester Zoo also had a pair who lived together alongside their many Cubs who came and went. It just comes down to the pair in particular.
That’s a shame. Raja has quite a lot of offspring but it’s disappointing that they haven’t bred. It’s unlikely he’ll have surviving grandchildren in the region if this continues. Only one is in a breeding situation currently, Ndari at the National Zoo.
The region hasn’t been above inbreeding their tigers - Taronga’s current pair are cousins; so they may resort to inbreeding. The most valuable related matches would be from Jambi’s direct descendants versus Shiva’s direct descendants which include Hutan. Options here are limited though, so I hope they import.
I’ve asked knowledgeable people in the industry for their perspective on Wellington’s introductions and the leading theory seems to be that there’s been aggression from the tigress. Given Bashi’s genetic value, they’re being cautious; but they need to be realistic that given his age, time isn’t on their side.
Raja had 0.5 purebred offspring with Soraya; while she also had 2.1 offspring with Lari (Shiva’s son). I think it’s great shame that Raja and Soraya never had a son together as many females in our region would have benefited from that match. They were a valuable pair and it’s dissapointing none of their daughters will ever breed.
2021 Summary
Births:
There were no births this year.
Deaths:
In February 2021, Adelaide Zoo announced the death of 13 year old Rhani. She was euthanised due to aggressive tumours discovered in her abdomen. Rahni never bred, but their had previously been attempts to breed her with Berani at the National Zoo and Kembali at Adelaide Zoo.
In June 2021, Melbourne Zoo announced the death of 19 year old Binjai due to medical issues associated with old age. Binjai bred with Ramalon (also deceased) to produce two litters in 2006 and 2010.
In December 2021, Taronga Zoo announced the death of 18 year old Jumilah. She was euthanised after a deterioration in health. Jumilah gave birth to a litter of three cubs in 2011.
Transfers:
In December 2021, Delilah was transferred from Australia Zoo to Adelaide Zoo for breeding. She will be paired with Kembali.
Sleuthing:
Thanks to @Matt_C, we’ve learned that Hamilton Zoo will be receiving a male tiger from Orana Wildlife Park in the near future.
Thanks to @Animals R AMAZING!, @Nisha and @Elena, we’ve learned that Auckland Zoo’s new pair will be Ramah (2017) and Zayana (2018). The tigers were born at the Oklahoma City Zoo and Topeka Zoo respectively and will be arriving in Auckland in mid 2022. Their new Sumatran exhibit will open in the second half of 2022 as the zoo welcomes back their first tigers in three years.
2022 Population List:
I will post an updated population list for this species tomorrow to reflect the events of 2021.
Births:
There were no births this year.
Deaths:
In February 2021, Adelaide Zoo announced the death of 13 year old Rhani. She was euthanised due to aggressive tumours discovered in her abdomen. Rahni never bred, but their had previously been attempts to breed her with Berani at the National Zoo and Kembali at Adelaide Zoo.
In June 2021, Melbourne Zoo announced the death of 19 year old Binjai due to medical issues associated with old age. Binjai bred with Ramalon (also deceased) to produce two litters in 2006 and 2010.
In December 2021, Taronga Zoo announced the death of 18 year old Jumilah. She was euthanised after a deterioration in health. Jumilah gave birth to a litter of three cubs in 2011.
Transfers:
In December 2021, Delilah was transferred from Australia Zoo to Adelaide Zoo for breeding. She will be paired with Kembali.
Sleuthing:
Thanks to @Matt_C, we’ve learned that Hamilton Zoo will be receiving a male tiger from Orana Wildlife Park in the near future.
Thanks to @Animals R AMAZING!, @Nisha and @Elena, we’ve learned that Auckland Zoo’s new pair will be Ramah (2017) and Zayana (2018). The tigers were born at the Oklahoma City Zoo and Topeka Zoo respectively and will be arriving in Auckland in mid 2022. Their new Sumatran exhibit will open in the second half of 2022 as the zoo welcomes back their first tigers in three years.
2022 Population List:
I will post an updated population list for this species tomorrow to reflect the events of 2021.
I did the behind the scenes Tiger encounter at Melbourne Zoo early last year and was told that Hutan and Indrah genes were over represented in the region and as such it had been recommend and accepted they wouldn't be breeding. The keeper said Rani had been the one selected to be bred, and the two at Melbourne would stay on at Melbourne. Hopefully new plans have been made since then as suggested above.
They also have a fourth sibling (Aceh) in a breeding pair at the National Zoo. They do indeed come from a well represented line (nobody really understands why Ramalon and Binjai were bred a second time); so perhaps the plan is to see how Aceh and Rani go in their respective breeding pairs and if one or both fall through, they’ll have Hutan as a back up.
It’s quite possible that as both Aceh and Rani haven’t quite bred yet they may be considering using Hutan as a backup. Melbourne have quite a breeding setup for their tigers and it’s a shame they aren’t being put into use, at least for the time being.