Firstly, what a busy couple of weeks it has been in Europe with the arrivals and departures of some very important tigers, from the Amur and Sumatran tigers. As such I decided to update the Blog on these moves.
So, starting from the beginning - A Sumatran tiger move will start us off, 'Vanni' the male at Terra Natura Benidorm moved from Spain over to Germany and arrived at Frankfurt Zoo where he will join 'Malea' (The mother of 'Asum', 'Berani', 'Daseep' and 'Taru') which I believe is for companionship as 'Malea' is a very well represented female having produced for cubs and the fact she is now approaching the age of sixteen years old. The addition of 'Vanni' now means Terra Natura Benidorm only house hybrid Bengal tigers, as the other female 'Keisha' has since left for elsewhere in Europe. I have seen 'Vanni' at Terra Natura Benidorm in 2014, he has a very large face from what I can remember and spent a significant amount of time in the (small) pool during his time at Terra Natura Benidorm. Now, some of the photos of him arriving at Frankfurt Zoo made me chuckle as he looks extremely content and chilled out upon his arrival! Looking forward to seeing what Frankfurt Zoo plan on doing long term with him!
The next move occurred today, with the arrival of a new female tigeress at Colchester. Amur tiger, 'Taiga' arrived today from Kristiansand Zoo. 'Taiga' was born on the 17th May 2013 to 'Boonya' and 'Ulysses', some of you could be familiar with the collection above. It is a Norwegian collection where 'Ingrid' (At Port Lympne Wild Animal Park) was born back on the 16th December 2003). I was thrilled to read that 'Taiga' has some royalty in her bloodline, her grandmother came from Novosibirsk Zoo, so genetically important! 'Taiga' is the offspring of 'Ulysses' who is the father of 'Ingrid', therefore, making them half-sisters. Very pleasing to hear that 'Taiga' arriving means that possible breeding plans with 'Igor' can now begin to take place now!
The other move today was 'Pan' at Wildlife Heritage Foundation in Kent, he moved to Eberswalde Zoo in Germany. The move was supposedly planned for a long time, 'Pan' is described as a very tall and pretty Amur tiger from various people who have seen in the flesh. During his time at WHF, 'Pan' sired three successful cubs, all females which was a surprise. Two of his daughters are now at Paradise Wildlife Park, the sister park to WHF, whilst his remaining daughter still lives at the park, now unfortunately alone as her mother, 'Ronja' passed quite recently.
Thanks all for reading, it's not a long Blog, but a quick update on some moves, in and around Europe. Thanks for reading, keep an eye out for more Blogs.
Photos courtesy of Zoo Frankfurt of 'Vanni'.
