WITH fewer than 200 Malayan tigers left in the wild, three tiger cubs born on Labour Day in Zoo Negara here have given the critically-endangered species a ray of hope.
The tigers, currently isolated with their seven-year-old mother Kayla, weigh between 7kg and 8kg and are about 45cm tall.
Zoo Negara’s Zoology, Veterinary and Giant Panda Conservation Centre director Dr Mat Naim Ramli said the zoo had, since its inception in 1963, bred between 20 to 50 tiger cubs.
However only 50 per cent of the cubs had made it to adulthood.
He said this was Kayla’s third litter, and that she had rejected the previous two, hence the zoo management was being extra careful.
He added that the cub s’ chances of survival would drastically increase if they made it past the third month.
“We could have hand-raised the cubs which she rejected in the past. However, we did not do so in the interest of the tigers’ future.
“Big cats, which are reared by hand, have a tendency to not become social, and would eventually find it hard to cope in captivity,” he told the New Straits Times.
The cubs’ father, Jati, and the zoo’s seven other Malayan tigers are kept in separate enclosures.
Dr Mat Naim said if all went well, visitors could get their first glimpse of the cubs after three months in the new tiger “immersive” enclosure funded by the Water, Land and Natural Resources Ministry.
Dr Naim also said the tigers were extra special as the zoo had stopped the breeding of Malayan tigers in 2017 by housing male and female tigers in separate enclosures due to lack of resources.
There were also three white Bengal tigers housed in a separate pen in the observatory.
Dr Naim said the zoo was among the last bastions for the animals, but noted that captive breeding had its pro and cons.
“The good part is that we have more tigers but we cannot release them to the jungle.
“We do it for education and research, but we cannot reintroduce them into the wild because their natural instincts have been curbed.
“You can put a chicken in front of them and they will not eat it. So, we control their breeding.
“There is no future for tigers born in captivity when released i n to the wild. Their only future is to remain in captivity,” he said.
Malayan tigers are classified as “critically endangered” in the IUCN Red List in 2015.
The population was roughly estimated to be around 250 to 340 adult individuals in 2013.
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