Hundreds of visitors lined up outside the Adaptations Building at Woodland Park Zoo on April 9 to get their first look at Hadiah (HA-dee-yah), a female Sumatran tiger cub. She was raised by zookeepers after her aging mother, JoJo, stopped providing maternal care for her two weeks after birth.
Hadiah, which means "gift," was the winner among five Malay/Indonesian names selected by zoo staff in a public naming poll that drew more than 6,700 votes. The event featured performances by a traditional Indonesian musical ensemble and tiger-themed cupcakes from Cupcake Royale.
A FITTING NAME
The appropriately named cub, born Dec. 12, turned out to be an early holiday gift for the zoo staff. It was the 15-year-old JoJo's third litter, so there was no question that she was able to successfully raise her own cubs. Nevertheless, the fact that Hadiah had no siblings caused a cautionary red flag to go up in the minds of zookeepers, they say.
Female tigers usually give birth to litters of at least two, and sometimes three or four cubs. The sight of a lone cub being born signaled that Jojo was well past her parenting prime and that, biologically, something was amiss.
"We had vets keep a close watch on the cub for those first couple weeks," said Martin Ramirez, an animal curator at Woodland Park Zoo. "Sure enough, in the second week, her mother's hormone levels dropped, she stopped producing milk and we had to step in to save her. In the wild, the cub would have been dead."
Hadiah spent the next four to five weeks under veterinary care to nurse her back to health. She then had to make a difficult transition to the interior feline exhibit, where she could live among her own kind - and learn to behave like a tiger.
"We didn't want her to get too dependent on us.... Our goal is that she will grow to be a healthy adult and have her own cubs someday," Ramirez said. "She adapted very well.... She especially likes chewing on the plants, mock stalking and pouncing...natural tiger behavior. After having been surrounded by humans for so long, it is important for her to remember that she is a tiger."
MORE COMMON IN ZOOS
Efforts by the Woodland Park Zoo veterinary staff to save the malnourished cub have proved successful. "Hadiah is a very healthy 37 1/2 pounds now.... She just had a checkup last weekend and passed with flying colors," said zoo representative Carolina Peters.
Stories of orphaned animals such as Hadiah are becoming "more and more common in zoos across America," according to Ramirez, encouraging groups to come together in an effort to save these creatures.
Sumatran tigers are currently the most endangered of all tiger subspecies, with only about 400 existing in the wild, making the birth of even a single cub highly valued.
"Woodland Park Zoo participates in the Sumatran tiger Species Survival Plan under the Association of Zoos & Aquariums, which holds us to a higher ethical standard in dealing with these situations." Ramirez explained. "It was the right thing to do."
Hadiah can be seen from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily in the Woodland Park Zoo's Adaptations Building. For admission fees and more information about the tiger cub and the zoo, visit www.zoo.org or call 684-6800.
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