Cinta and Kumbuh - the tiger siblings!

Back again! We are getting good at these blogs things, aren't we?

Anyhow, myself and Katelynne spent our first Valentine's Day at South Lakes Safari Zoo in Dalton, home to a sibling pair of Sumatran tiger, Kumbah and Cinta. The pair were French born at Doue la Fontaine Zoo to Kiara and Bintang, who was born at Paignton Zoo on 5th February 2009 to Banda and Tenang. The duo arrived in 2016 to join another two females, one of which was the pair's older siblings. On my visit in 2017, South Lakes Safari Zoo then held one male and three female Sumatran tigers.

The tiger enclosure at the collection is known as the Way Kambas tiger reserve, the enclosure previously held another pair named Padang and Alesha. Padang was born at Dudley Zoo to their infamous pair Sarah and Filon, whilst Alesha was born at Berlin Tierpark to Santana and Morris. The pair died in recent years with Padang euthanised in 2016 due to age-related problems whist Alesha sadly passed away when she choked on a piece of meat in 2013.

During previous visits, the enclosure that holds the pair of tiger hid them extremely well and in my opinion, is one of the best enclosures within the UK. It features hidden foliage and open grassland which allows a good mixture for the cats to hide but, also to be out on-show to the public, if they deemed so. We spent a good amount of time watching the pair, Kumbah was outside for the vast majority of the day, however, his sister didn't make an appearance until later in the afternoon.

Kumbah is a typical male, big in size with a large head making him easily identifiable, the duo interacted numerous times with no tension being displayed. According to a chat with a keeper, the current plan according to the EEP is to hold the pair as a non-breeding duo, although plans can always change. Cinta is probably the most common name for a tiger in captivity, South Lakes' female is a small individual with beautiful facial markings. 

The pair in the afternoon were extremely active and sat in and around their pool - Cinta seems like a very feisty female after snarling towards members of the public and Kumbah. She did however start to prusten (chuff) towards us at the end of the day. This as mentioned before was the most that I have seen them since they arrived at the park in 2016. 

Another blog up for you all to see again - I have some ideas for more blogs coming up regarding tigers in captivity and the discovery of Royal Bengal tigers living in and around Asiatic lions.

Thanks again,
Jordan