Dec 19, 2005 9:14 am US/Pacific
S.F. Zoo Makes Room For New Female Tiger
SAN FRANCISCO (Bay City News) ―
The San Francisco Zoo on Friday welcomed a new tenant, a tiger named Tatiana, who will eventually accompany their resident male Siberian tiger, Tony.
Tatiana arrived on a flight from Denver and was placed into a quarantine pen where she will spend the next 30 days, according to zoo curator Bob Jenkins.
Tony, who lived most of his 13 years in the company of his female sibling Emily, lives in the zoo's Lion House. Emily died of cancer of the spleen in late 2004, according to the zoo.
Jenkins said Tatiana will provide Tony with the companionship he is used to while she awaits entry into a national breeding program for tigers.
The San Francisco Zoo participates in the Tiger Species Survival Plan, a cooperative effort of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association to ensure the tiger population in North America remains genetically viable and healthy, Jenkins explained.
"Tatiana is a young tiger, about two years old, and basically she's here on a holding pattern before she enters the breeding program," Jenkins said. "Tony is a vasectomized male, so this is an ideal partnership."
Tatiana will enter the breeding program when its coordinators determine that they need her genetic input into the tiger population. In the meantime, she will bunk with Tony.
The tigers must be introduced to each other gradually, Jenkins said. First, Tatiana goes through her 30 days of quarantine to make sure she's healthy and eating properly. Then, she will be moved to the Lion House where she and Tony will be able to see each other.
Eventually, they will be moved into adjacent pens in order to get used to each other's smells and mannerisms. Then they will begin spending bits of time in the same pen. At some point, the two will live together.
"Once you start that process, you're on what we call 'tiger time.' They let you know when they're ready. You're on their schedule at that point," Jenkins said.
Jenkins also said that a population of penguins that had experienced some health problems earlier this year are doing "just fine." He said the zoo was making preparations for the penguins to breed next year.
(Bay City News)
