Syracuse, N.Y. — Two rare Amur tiger cubs were born at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in April and have been doing well since, zoo officials announced today.
The cubs, one male and one female, were born April 29 and are now bonding with their mother, Zeya, under the watchful eyes of zoo staff. A news release from the zoo called the births “a critical milestone in the conservation of this rare species.”
Amur tigers, also known as Siberian tigers, are native to the Amur region of northeastern China and Siberia. There are estimated to be no more than 400 in the wild. They are considered the largest cats in the world
The female Amur tiger cub born April 29 at Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse. The cub has a male twin. Photo taken by the zoo’s collection manager, Seth Groesbeck, when the cubs were three weeks old.
The cubs’ mother, Zeya, came to the Onondaga County-owned Gifford zoo in 2020 from the Beardsley Zoo in Connecticut. She was mated with Thimbu, a male tiger who came to Syracuse from the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs in 2019.
Zeya and the twins will not be put on exhibit for public view until the cubs receive all their vaccinations, which should be complete when they are 16 weeks old. In the meantime, zoo visitors can watch them daily on a live camera feed in zoo’s Animal Health Center.
“… Guests can watch the tiger twins (on camera) as they play together, spend time with Zeya, and grow larger each day,” the zoo said in its news release.
Thimbu is on public view at this time.
This is the male cub born April 29 at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, when it was about three weeks old. Photo by the Gifford Zoo’s collection manager Seth Groesbeck.
The births are the first for Zeya, and the first for Thimbu. The zoo’s staff kept careful watch on the newborns because adult tigers can act unpredictable in the wild and there was concern about how Zeya would react to them.
But Zeya, who is 6, bonded with the cubs immediately.
“For Zeya, motherhood was completely instinctual,” Gifford zoo tiger care specialist Dan Meates said in a statement. “It’s not often that you get to witness an Amur tiger become a mother, and even rarer to observe a big cat that was raised by humans doing such a good job of raising her own cubs.”
Two Amur tiger cubs, born April 29 at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, with their mother, Zeya. (Courtesy Rosamond Gifford Zoo)
The zoo is hoping to have more tiger births in the future as part of its participation in The Association of Zoos and Aquarium’s Species Survival Plan.
“The birth of these tiger cubs is a triumph of conservation, and demonstrates the expertise and commitment of the animal care specialists at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo,” Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon said in a news release. “These are some of the rarest big cats on Earth, and it is a privilege to have an institution in our community that is qualified to provide the complex care that this species requires.”
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