Agencies-Gaza post
Rare tiger arrives at Chester Zoo
A critically endangered Sumatran tiger came to Chester Zoo as part of a special breeding programme.
Called Dash, the biggest cat was brought to the zoo from Fota Wildlife Park in Ireland.
Conservationists with the three-year-old male will “hit it off” with resident female Kasarna, who was born at Chester in 2015.
The zoo’s manager of animals Mike Jordan said, “We’re hopeful they will one day go on to have cubs.”
He added, “Dash is a handsome, convinced young tiger and he’s quickly settled into his new surroundings.
“Sumatran tigers are exceptionally rare and, sadly, their wild population still feeling enormous pressure from mass-scale habitat loss and poaching.
“Their chance of survival is hanging by a rope and the endangered species breeding programme, run by Europe’s greatest conservation zoos, is a vitally important part of the international effort to ensure these magnificent animals are here for generations to come.”
Zookeepers hope the three-year-old tiger will “hit it off” with their female
The Sumatran tiger is recorded as critically endangered by the Internal Union for the Conservation of Nature with just 400 estimated to stay in the wild
Notable for its darker colour, it is one of the world’s smallest tigers and is the only surviving tiger population in Indonesia’s Sunda Islands, where the Bali and Javan tigers have already disappeared.
