10-year-old Gaysha with her three healthy cubs
(Picture: ZSL London Zoo)Three critically endangered Sumatran tiger cubs have been born at London Zoo.
Their mother, 10-year-old Gaysha, gave birth to the three healthy cubs last week, much to the delight of zoo staff.
Geysha has been spending most of her time in an indoor den cleaning and caring for her 10-day-old young before she decides it is time to take them to the outdoor paddocks.
Their father Asim has also been gently approaching the cubs and getting to know his new family, London Zoo said.
“All three cubs are doing well in mum and dad’s devoted care and we’ve seen a key milestone already, with the strong little ones feeding and taking their first tentative steps almost immediately,” said tiger keeper Kathryn Sanders.
The trio will also soon be able to open their eyes, which are always closed for the first few weeks after the birth.
Ms Sanders said staff were confident Gaysha was pregnant and had spotted her swollen belly in recent weeks.
They prepared a cubbing den with soft straw and monitored her progress each night from a cubcam.
Staff are continuing to keep a close eye on the new family via the camera while also taking care not to disturb them.
The three cubs will be named when they are about three months of age, when vets and zookeepers can confirm the cubs’ sexes.
The three new additions to the family are a great boost to a global breeding programme for Sumatran tigers, managed by ZSL.
Zoos around the globe work together to look after a healthy back-up population of the critically endangered species.
Since the launch of ZSL London Zoo’s Tiger Territory in 2013, the zoo has added eight cubs to the programme.
Sumatran tigers are the rarest and smallest subspecies of tiger in the world, with the latest figures suggesting that only around 300 remain in the wild, London Zoo said.
The last of the population is on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia, where deforestation and rampant poaching threatens the species’ survival.
