5-week-old Sumatran tiger cubs get their names
TACOMA, Wash. – Patients at Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital & Health Care Center marked ballots and put them in colorful voting boxes. Students at Tillicum Elementary School stuck colored dots on a poster board to indicate their preferences. Facebook fans and zoo visitors went to the internet in droves to cast their votes.
After a two-week election and 7,140 votes cast, 5-week-old Sumatran tiger triplets at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium have their names.
They are Kirana, Indah, and Dari. All are derived from Bahasa Indonesia, the Indonesian language. Kirana (keer-rana) translates to beautiful sunbeam; Indah (N-da), to beautiful one; and Dari (Dar-ee) is short for Ndari, meaning full moon.
Kirana
Indah
Dari
Kirana was the favorite name, with 5,120 votes. Indah came in second at 4,458, and Dari came in third with 4,283 ballots.
Staff biologists in the zoo’s Asian Forest Sanctuary area suggested six names for the cubs, all females. Members of the public were invited to vote for their top three.
Besides the winning names, the choices were Asmara (As-mar-ah), meaning love; Merah (Meer-ah), meaning blushful; and Diah (Dee-ah), meaning young female
After voting on the names closed Thursday afternoon, keepers matched the public favorites to the cubs based on markings and personality, senior staff biologist Christy Webster said.
Though still very young, the cubs are increasingly more mobile and clearly showing distinct differences in temperament, Webster said.
Kirana is sassy and a bit adventurous, finding every corner as she explores her mother’s den. Indah is beautiful and a bit more laid back than her sisters. And the stripes on Dari’s head remind keepers of the full moon. The cubs were born under a rare, red full moon.
“They are exercising their legs and roaming around Jaya’s room a bit more to explore their environment,” Webster said.
The tiger triplets remain behind the scenes at the zoo, continuing to nurse and bond with their mother. They could make their public debut in a few weeks, but timing depends on their strength and mobility as well as on weather conditions and outdoor temperatures.
The cubs, born Oct. 8 to 11-year-old Jaya, have more than tripled from their birth weights of between 2.5 and 3 pounds. Their latest weights were 10.7, 11 and 11.26 pounds.
Their births are cause for celebration. Sumatran tigers are critically endangered. Only about 300 remain in the wild on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. There are just 78 in North American zoos and roughly 400 in zoos worldwide.
Their births were part of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan®, a managed breeding program to ensure a genetically diverse population of Sumatran tigers.
“With fewer than 800 Sumatran tigers remaining on the planet, every one is precious,” said Karen Goodrowe Beck, the zoo’s general curator who also coordinates the Sumatran tiger Species Survival Plan® for North America.
“We are pleased that members of the public took the time to log into the internet and vote on their name choices,” she added. “We want visitors to the zoo to see these magnificent animals and we hope they will take action to help their wild counterparts.”
Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium is home to four Sumatran tigers and one Malayan tiger in addition to Jaya and the cubs. They are 6-year-old Malosi, the cubs’ father; 4-year-old Bima, their half-brother; 2-year-old Dumai, their brother; 19-month-old Kali, their sister; and 2-year-old Berani, the Malayan tiger.
The tigers rotate daily on and off several exhibit spaces in the Asian Forest Sanctuary.
Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium is open from 9:30 to 4 p.m. Thursdays through Mondays at this time of year.