World’s most threatened species of tiger born at Fota Wildlife Park

Members of the public have been asked to submit a name for the tiger cub. And no, Tiger McTigerface will not be up for consideration.

Fota Wildlife Park in Cork has announced the birth of a Sumatran Tiger cub, one of the rarest subspecies of tiger in the world and classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) since 2008. The cub was born on May 7 to first-time parents, five-year-old mother Dourga and father Denar, who is also five. Although the sex of the cub is not yet known, Fota Wildlife Park is calling for the public to suggest a name beginning with ‘D’, which they can do on the Fota Wildlife website. The person who suggests the chosen name will be in with a chance to win a year-long Conservation Membership to Fota Wildlife Park. Commenting on the relatively new arrival, Sean McKeown, director of Fota Wildlife Park said: “This is a landmark birth for us - apart from the fact this is the first time that a tiger has been born in Fota, but also because this subspecies is so vulnerable to extinction as there are as few as 300 to 500 individuals remaining in the wild. “The Sumatran Tiger is Indonesia’s last tiger subspecies and it’s being pushed further and further towards extinction due to the devastation of their natural habitats, conflicts with humans and the deadly trade that poachers purvey. Therefore, anything we can do to contribute to the continued survival and genetic diversity of this subspecies is vitally important. "The birth of this cub will help raise the profile of the plight of the Sumatran Tiger and further educate the visiting public for the need to conserve this beautiful and endangered species”. Lead Ranger Kelly Lambe added: “Dourga and Denar hit it off from the start with lots of friendly chuffs or vocalisations exchanged during their initial courtship. We are delighted to welcome this beautiful new addition to the Park, who will be a valuable member of the larger tiger family, therefore, helping to ensure the survival of the species, all whilst being incredible cute!” Dourga and Denar arrived at Fota Wildlife Park’s Asian Sanctuary in March of 2014 from France and Poland respectively. They now share their habitat with two other Sumatran tigers; Batak, a three-year-old male that came in 2015 from France and Mayang, a five-year-old female who arrived last week from Safari Zoo in the UK. Fota Wildlife Park are sponsoring the 21st Century Tiger poaching prevention programme in Sumatra as part of their ongoing contribution to wild tiger conservation. To date, Fota Wildlife Park has raised over €27,000 for wild tiger conservation, which has earned the park a Gold Award from 21st Century Tiger, an initiative to conserve tigers in their wild habitat.