Melbourne Zoo Melbourne Zoo's Tiger Cubs Revealed

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Connor91

Well-Known Member
It has been confirmed that Binjai's second litter of cubs born in Febraury 2010 are two males and two females. The litter now nearly 12 weeks old are expected to make their first public appearance in the next few days. The health and safety of the Binaji and her cubs are the zoo's top priority and they will be giving the eight year old tigeress the oppotunity to decide when she will take her cubs outside for the first time.

Binjai has a son Satu and a daughter Isha at Western Plains Zoo. They were born in 2006 to Binjai and her mate Ramalon.
 
Hey Ryan,

Should be soon, They're usually named around the time they make their first public appearance. It would be good if they came up with some cool indonesian names that we haven't had before. Berani and Indah are good names but they have been used too many times.

Chahaya meaning light could be a good name for a male cub, Kusuma meaning flower for a female. It would be good to have a name that refers to the fact there are four cubs as this is quite unusual. It has happened twice in recent years but not all of the cubs have survived. Catur is an indonesian poetic word for four, maybe this would be a good name for the other male.
 
One thing I don't like about naming competitions is the names rarely reflect the character of the animals. I hope the keepers name them and come up with suitable names for each individual cub.
 
thats great I can't wait to see them! The tiger exhibit will be full now, ever since satu and isha moved its been fairly quiet from my experince
 
The cubs have had a vet check and have been officaly named. The females are Rani and Indrah and the boys are Hutan and Aceh. They should be on show very soon!! :)

They were born 9th Febuary

Cubs come out scratching
 
Nisha said:
The cubs have had a vet check and have been officaly named. The females are Rani and Indrah and the boys are Hutan and Aceh. They should be on show very soon!! :)

They were born 9th Febuary

Cubs come out scratching
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Rani and Indrah are very close in spelling to two of the Dreamworld cubs but I don't think Aceh or Hutan has been used amonhst the ANZ contingent yet.
 
Who wrote that article - some interesting grammer and spelling (Tooronga?:p)
 
jay said:
Rani and Indrah are very close in spelling to two of the Dreamworld cubs but I don't think Aceh or Hutan has been used amonhst the ANZ contingent yet.
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I was just about to write that, Rani and Indra/h are also quite common names amongst asian elephants. ( just saying)
 
Don't forget Orangutans. Auckland Zoo had an Orangutan named Indra.

I was a bit dissapointed with the female cubs names, as already mentioned Rani is very similar to Rahni!

The male cub names are different which is great, does anyone know the meanings of their names?

I suggested one of the male cubs shopuld have been named Catur, it means four. This would have been appropriate since it is quite an achievement to have four cubs. Also it is an Indonesian poetic word and Ramalon's Grandmother (who produced the first sumatran tiger cubs at Melbourne Zoo) was named Poetry.
 
Not sure about Hutan but Aceh was a region in northern Sumatra that was severly hit by the 2004 boxing day Tsunami.
 
Connor91 said:
I was a bit dissapointed with the female cubs names, as already mentioned Rani is very similar to Rahni!

The male cub names are different which is great, does anyone know the meanings of their names?
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I was also disappointed with the names... I mean, couldn't they think of anything else? The pronunciation of Rahni/ Rani is exactly the same! I named a Binturong after a Dreamworld tiger (Jaya) but it is pronounced differently and Jaya the tiger is a female and the Binturong is a male.
 
Hurricane said:
I agree too, I think both Perth and Taronga have come up with some good names in the past. I think Kemiri was the best.
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hmm, you agree with Connor's comment as well? There's a shocker! :rolleyes:
 
According to a preview for next weeks episode of 'The Zoo', these cubs have/had trouble walking. I seem to remember that there was something wrong with the first litter as well. I wonder if this is inbreeding problems showing up.
 
I don't know definately, but I'm quite sure that Binjai and Ramalon aren't related. Ramalon was born at Melbourne zoo ( confirmation needed) and Binjai was from Rotterdam
 
this is a common problem within this program, when Taronga's pair produced 3 cubs in 2003 they also had difficulty walking.
when you are talking about in-breeding with Sumatran Tigers, relatedness is a relative concept-almost all of the Western zoo population of this tiger sub-species has been managed for more than 2 decades ona founder-base of 7 animals.
new bloodlines, like the ones represented by the tigers sourced from Indonesia by Australia Zoo are incredibly valuable.
 
The condition is known as "congenital vestibular disease" and unfortunately has been present in numerous litters of Sumatran tigers, both in Australia and Overseas. It can effect (to varying degrees - from the completely obvious to the so slight it is undetectable to the untrained eye) just individuals or entire litters of siblings. Symptoms, both physical and neurological, are much more prevalent in younger animals and seem to subside as the animals mature. There are various theories as to the cause of this disease, but I would agree that it could be a result of inbreeding, which of course with such a small founding population is almost unavoidable.
 
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