Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens works to protect and increase Sumatran tiger population

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens recently welcomed a Sumatran tiger cub, and experts there are working on a project to protect and increase the population locally and internationally.
 
Action News Jax reporter Romney Smith got an inside look into the zoo's conservation efforts.
 
Thousands of people flock to the Jacksonville Zoo to see Berani, a male Sumatran tiger. People will now also come to see his daughter, the first Sumatran tiger born at the zoo in 35 years.
 
Dan Dembiec, the Jacksonville Zoo mammal supervisor, said it's a big deal, not just for the zoo, but for the Sumatran tiger population too.
 
"One cub may not seem like a lot -- there's only less than 300 Sumatran tigers in the wild and so that's a big deal -- but it also just raises awareness and that's the big deal," Dembiec said.
 
The unnamed female tiger cub recently had a wellness checkup in which vets determined her length, weight, eyes and body are within a healthy range. The tiger cub weighed in at 11.5 pounds.

"Over the next three years, she'll grow 18 times her size until she's more than 200 pounds, which is just 50 pounds less than her father, who weighs a whopping 250 pounds," Dembiec said.

In addition to a healthy active environment, the zoo makes sure critically endangered Sumatran tigers are protected internationally by funding a wildlife protection unit.
 
"We actually pay the salaries of rangers that make sure poaching doesn't happen and to help protect the habitat, so we are heavily involved with tiger conservation," Dembiec said.
 
The zoo said it hopes the tiger cub will have a brother or sister in the coming years.
 
"This will probably be a breeding pair again … we hope to have tiger cubs year after year here," Dembiec said.

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