May 2007
Longleat releases Tigers
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Longleat releases Tigers |
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Longleat Safari Park is delighted to announce that three Amur (Siberian) tigers who have been in quarantine for the last six months have recently been released into their enclosure at Longleat.
The three young female tigers, Shouri, Soundari and Svetli came from Mulhouse Zoo in eastern France where they were born almost 2 years ago. The tigers are part of a European breeding programme and it is hoped that they will form a breeding group in a new collection- which is where Longleat Safari Park stepped in.
Head Warden Keith Harris said: “I am absolutely delighted that we’ve managed to obtain these fabulous tigers. Due to the very sad demise of two of our tigers over the last few years through old age; we decided it was now time to introduce new tigers to Longleat.
“Their new enclosure is much larger than the one they are used to and is jam-packed with new sights and smells. They have never seen cars or buses before let alone pheasants and squirrels so they’re having a whale of a
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Longleat releases Tigers |
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time discovering what life at Longleat is all about!
“We have already introduced some new features into the enclosure including a new rock platform and we are working on providing a swimming pool as, unlike the domestic cat, they love water!”
“The three tigers are already showing quite different characteristics. Soundari is definitely the most feisty of the three and is quite often the one you will find half way up a tree, playing with a ball or attacking the rope on the existing wooden platform! They are all settling in really well however and we are delighted with how the transition from quarantine to enclosure has worked to date” he added.
The Amur tiger is the largest of all the big cats and is native to far eastern Asia. It is listed as critically endangered with only 200/300 or so still living in the wild. The female can weigh up to 160kg (350lb), roughly equivalent to two 12-stone men!
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BBC
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