INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Zoo is sharing an update on three Amur tiger cubs, who were born May 27, 2022.
As of July 15, the triplets are 7 weeks old. Last week, the tiger cubs had their first checkups with veterinarians, which included eye, ear and body exams, as well as measuring their weights. The zoo said each tiger cub weighs around 12 pounds.
According to the zoo, the tiger cubs' personalities are starting to show, noting that they love to roll around and wrestle with one another.
The zoo said the tiger cubs are still being bottle-fed but will get some meat to start the transition to solid food soon.
GALLERY: Indianapolis Zoo tiger cubs
The zoo said first-time mom Zoya, a 7-year-old Amur tiger, is doing great and has healed after delivering the first cub naturally but then delivering the next two by Caesarean-section. The father is 14-year-old Pavel.
The Indianapolis Zoo has launched a community campaign to help name two of the three cubs ahead of their expected debut to the public in mid-September.
The zoo decided to name one of the male cubs Nicholas, after the veterinary surgeon who assisted in the tiger cubs' birth.
Here are the three options for the female cub:
- Vesna — which means youth and spring, beautiful
- Yeva — which means life
- Helina — which means bright, vivid, intelligent
The three options for the male cub are:
- Jarek (pronounced yah-rek) — which means fierce, strong
- Kuzma — which means harmony, universe
- Roman — which means strong, powerful
Voters have a chance to win a family-fun prize pack, which includes free tickets to the zoo.
Click here to help name two of the three tiger cubs. The winning names will be announced Friday, July 29 on International Tiger Day.
According to the zoo, all three cubs weighed around 2 pounds each at birth.
Unfortunately, the cubs will likely never be introduced to or in the same space as their mother because tigers are solitary by nature, and Zoya is not raising them.
According to the zoo, the Amur tiger cubs' birth is extremely important, as there are fewer than 100 Amur tigers in zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The zoo said Amur tigers in the wild have lost almost 95% of their territories.
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