San Antonio Zoo has introduced a male, three-year-old tiger, Jeda to the public. Jeda arrived in February from another zoological facility in Florida and was placed in a 30-day quarantine where staff monitored his health and habits.
In a news release, the zoo said, "Our Animal Care staff and our zoo crew are extremely happy to have him as a part of our family. In the coming weeks, he will get to know his new surroundings at Big Cat Valley and eventually meet the zoo’s female tiger, The Royal Ja’Malle."
"The 260-pound addition to our zoo family will provide guests another opportunity to appreciate one of the many endangered species at San Antonio Zoo. Jeda was born in August 2017 and was brought to the Alamo City as a part of the Species Survival Plan in hopes he will breed with The Royal Ja’Malle."
“We are very excited about Jeda’s arrival,” said President & CEO San Antonio Zoo, Tim Morrow. “We look forward to our guests seeing and learning more about him in the days and years to come. We are very proud of our role in the species survival plan for these beautiful animals. It is my sincere hope that in the coming weeks and months, the tigers will get to know each other and eventually contribute to the survival of this species through successful breeding.”
According to the Association of Zoos & Aquariums, tigers are now thought to occupy less than seven percent of their original range. Today’s tiger populations are threatened by habitat loss and degradation, poaching, tiger-human conflict, loss of prey, and other factors. Four of nine subspecies have disappeared from the wild just in the past hundred years, and the Amur, Sumatran, and Malayan tigers are all thought to number fewer than 500 individuals in the wild.
San Antonio Zoo is proud to play an essential role in the worldwide conservation of tigers. The zoo last had tiger cubs born in 2013.
For more information on the zoo’s role in conservation, visit: https://sazoo.org/zoo-conservation-efforts/
Photos: San Antonio Zoo