Meet Sali, the new ‘adorable’ Sumatran Tiger Cub at Dreamworld
Friday, May 30th, 2008
It was Sali’s first outing with an adult tiger since being abandoned by her mother soon after being born at Perth Zoo six weeks ago. Sali was rejected after her three siblings died, and Dreamworld in the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia has adopted the orphan cub at its Tiger Island attraction. She will be gradually assimilated with the theme park’s 10 existing Sumatran and Bengal tigers - along with some new playmates due any day now.
Adult Sumatran tigress Soraya is heavily pregnant and is expected to give birth to a litter of up to four cubs early next month. They will add to eight tiger cubs born at Dreamworld but for the moment, adoptee Sali is the newest star in stripes.
After two weeks playing at home with Czar, chief tiger handler Patrick Martin-Vegue’s pet Rhodesian ridgeback dog, Sali was today introduced to Tiger Island where she rubbed fur with the exhibit’s original inhabitant, Mohan, a 13-year-old white Bengal.
As Mohan curiously sniffed the new addition, the tiny feline bravely batted him with her paws. The big cat responded gently with a playful bite.
Mr Martin-Vegue said Mohan had interacted with four cub litters and was ‘very tolerant’, while Sali was ‘a spunky little thing’. “She’s not really fearful of Mohan at all, which is good,” he said. “Mohan’s an experienced veteran when it comes to interacting with cubs.”
Mr Martin-Vegue said while survival was not an issue for Sali - whose name means ’steadfast’ in Indonesian - experts considered it essential to relocate her so she could interact with other tigers. Sali will stay at Dreamworld for at least the next few years until she reaches sexual maturity. With only about 400 Sumatran tigers left in the wild, she will then hopefully breed to boost the species’ growing captive population.
That population includes Indah and Rahni, which have grown to 75kgs since being born on Tiger Island last year. Sali is now on full public display and can be seen being bottle fed four times a day.
Original story by Greg Stolz at the Courier Mail, May 29, 2008 01:20pm
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