Trio of Critically Endangered Tiger Cubs Born

We are excited to share the first glimpses of critically endangered Sumatran tiger cub triplets, moments after their births were recorded on CCTV.

The adorable trio arrived on Friday 17 January 2025, to mum, 13-year-old Dourga, with the first cub arriving at 10:53am, the second an hour later at 11:53am and the third at around 1pm.

Dourga gave birth to the cubs in an indoor den, where the youngsters have since been busy learning how to suckle, had lots of snuggles and have taken their first tentative steps, all be it blind, as their eyes are closed at birth for a few weeks.

The moment was monitored eagerly by the keepers, who were delighted when they saw that three cubs had safely arrived.

Head Keeper of Carnivores, Kasha Carter, said, “We started monitoring our female Sumatran tiger, Dourga, closely after we noticed her belly had grown larger a couple of weeks ago, nearing a predicted due date we were preparing for. She started to show nesting behaviour and on Friday morning we spotted more of a change. We gave her some space while she went into the cubbing den we had set up for her, and watched excitedly on the CCTV, as she successfully gave birth to three tiny cubs!

“Dourga has been doing a fantastic job at nursing and all three cubs have been suckling and seem to be very lively from what we can see so far! She is a very caring mother.”

She continued, “This is such an amazing moment for the carnivore team and I to witness and be a part of, and we are proud to be playing our part in a successful conservation programme for an animal that is ‘critically endangered’ in the wild. We can't wait to see what the future holds for them.”

All tigers in the wild face an uncertain future, due to habitat loss, conflict with humans and poaching for the illegal trade in tiger body parts.

It is estimated that there may be fewer than 4,000 tigers left in the wild and with only around 400 of those being Sumatran tigers, that makes them one of the most endangered of the subspecies.

The Sumatran tigers here are part of an EEP (EAZA Ex-Situ Programme), which is a collaboration between European zoos, aiming to conserve endangered species.

We also partner with conservation organisation, WildCats Conservation Alliance and donate annually to the Kerinci Seblat Tiger Protection Project which operates tiger protection and conservation units in Indonesia.

These units patrol hundreds of kilometres of tiger territory, to prevent poaching and prey and habitat destruction, making arrests and destroying illegal snares.

Since this team has been deployed, the rate of finding snares has been reducing and in the first half of 2024, no snares were found, which is great news.

The keepers will not disturb Dourga and the cubs until they are around eight weeks old, when a quick health check will be carried out by our veterinary team.

It is at this point that they may also find out the sex of the cubs, so names can be chosen. All animals born at the Park this year, will have names beginning with ‘N’.

Keepers are unsure as to when guests will be able to see the triplets, but we will post regular updates on our social media pages.

Father to the cubs, ten-year-old Nakal and big sister, 18-month-old Lestari can still be seen in Tiger Tropics and tigers Buster and Hujan, can be seen on the Safari Drive.