Tiger from Honolulu moves into new home at Tacoma Zoo
Kadie Anderson, a veterinary intern at Pt. Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma, Wash., gets up close with Sumatran tiger Malosi's teeth during a cleaning as part of a physical examination on on March 14, 2012. The tiger, under general anesthesia during the procedure, had a breathing tube inserted down his throat to help protect his airway. (AP Photo/The News Tribune, Dean J. Koepfler)
TACOMA, Wash. >> Point Defiance Zoo in Washington introduced a new male Sumatran tiger from the Honolulu Zoo Thursday.
Zoo officials hope Malosi and the zoo’s female tiger Jaya will produce cubs.
The zoo presented the 3-year-old cat on Thursday with a treat made of frozen meat and blood and topped with whipped cream.
The zoo’s curator coordinates the North American Sumatran tiger survival plan as part of an effort to ensure the sustainability of zoo-based tigers.
Point Defiance said about 200 Sumatran tigers are in zoos, including 70 in the United States. Tacoma has three: Jaya, her year-and-a-half-old cub Bima and Bima’s father Bali.
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The tiger sub-species is native to the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Poaching and habitat loss caused the wild population to dwindle to fewer than 300.
