One Step forward for tigers

Our four rare Amur tiger cubs have had their first vaccinations.

With one more set of jabs due in a few weeks, the keepers are looking forward to when the quadruplets can start exploring the Safari Park; currently expected to be at the end of the school summer holidays.

Lead Carnivore keepers Caleb Hall and Eloise Kilbane coordinated the inoculations with the veterinary team and despite the cubs being only a few weeks old, Caleb and Eloise needed to wear gauntlets and gloves to protect themselves.
Said Caleb: “Similar to our domestic cats at home, our tigers need vaccinating, and they had a thorough health check. They will have a second vaccination in another three weeks, and they should then be ready to be outside.

Eloise added: They love running round and exploring.  Mum Yana was really relaxed throughout the experience; although we had separated her, she could still see them, and she was quite chilled – probably because she has had experience of this before.”

Caleb said: “They are really strong already which shows how well mum has been looking after them; three were calm while one was quite feisty. One of them started climbing so they are going to have great fun when they see the trees in the paddock.”

The cubs won’t immediately be in the drive-through Safari as the keepers will need to ensure they are familiar with the outdoors first so will be in a smaller paddock first; it’s also important to ensure the cubs to have the full benefit of the vaccinations in their system.

Yana and dad Red had two cubs – Yuki and Rusty – in 2019. Rusty moved to Blackpool Zoo last year as part of the breeding programme.

Longleat now has the biggest collection of Amur tigers in the UK. The species is currently listed as endangered and the Longleat cubs equate to more than 25 per cent of births across Europe in the previous two years. It is estimated that there are only 450 Amur tigers remaining in the wild.