London Zoo names its terrific tiger trio!
- Published
- comments
The cubs were born in June this year
ZSL London Zoo welcomed three Sumatran tiger cubs earlier this year, and the adorable additions have now been named!
Siblings Inca, Zac and Crispin were born to parents Gaysha and Asim at the conservation zoo in June.
The tigers, which are critically endangered animals, were given their names following an auction last month which gave ZSL supporters the chance to decide what the babies would be called.
Sumatran tigers are critically endangered animals
"Inca, Zac and Crispin are great names for these feisty cubs - now four-months-old and growing fast.," said ZSL London Zoo tiger keeper Martin O 'Sullivan.
"Inca loves her food and is always ready to defend a bit of chicken from her brothers if necessary. Crispin is a little quieter than his two boisterous siblings, and is definitely a mummy's boy - preferring to snuggle up to Gaysha in the sun - while Zac is the largest cub and loves playfighting with his sister, getting an early start on developing their hunting skills.
"We can tell the trio apart by the stripe patterns on their faces, which are unique to every tiger - we're delighted that all three have now been officially named."
1. Tiger cubs start hunting from a very young age, with some beginning at just one-years-old! However, young tigers don't leave their mothers until they're about two.
2. Sumatran tigers, like other tiger species, are big fans of water. They enjoy cooling off in rivers and even swimming!
3. All tigers, including Sumatran tigers, have unique stripes, which means no two sets are the same. Sumatran tigers have the narrowest black stripes of any tiger subspecies and they're also the darkest in colour compared to other types.
Why are these tiger triplets so important?
Tiger cub Inca chills with her dad Asim
Inca, Zac and Crispin are part of a global conservation effort to protect Sumatran tigers through a breeding programme involving lots of different zoos.
Sumatran tigers, which are the smallest types of tiger that exist, come from the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
The animals are currently facing great challenges which threaten their existence.
Tiger cubs are great at climbing trees!
There are only around 300 Sumatran tigers currently left in the wild, with poaching - which is the illegal hunting of animals - having the biggest impact on their numbers.
Habitat loss, where environments animals live in are destroyed, is another big factor affecting Sumatran tigers living in the world. A big driver of habitat loss is human activity, like deforestation.
- Published3 March 2022
- Published5 October 2016
- Published26 May 2022
