Hoping for offspring

Schönbrunn: Young female tiger explores territory

(Bild: Norbert Potensky)

Vienna's Schönbrunn Zoo has a new resident - and is rekindling hopes for offspring. The young lady is a female Siberian tiger. She can now also be seen by visitors to the zoo.

The female comes from the Dutch AquaZoo Leeuwarden and arrived in Vienna in mid-February. "The female was born in June 2023. As part of the European Endangered Species Programme (EEP), she was selected as the new partner for our male, who came to us from Lisbon Zoo in 2021," explains zoo director Dr. Stephan Hering-Hagenbeck.

Preparations for the female's relocation had already been underway for months: She underwent special crate training at AquaZoo so that the transportation would be as relaxed as possible.

The Siberian tiger is highly endangered. Through coordinated breeding, we are making an important contribution to the conservation of the species.

Tiergartendirektor Dr. Stephan Hering-Hagenbeck

Female already exploring the outdoor enclosure
"It was important to us that the animal could get used to the new environment, daily routines, smells etc. first. This also involved the first exchange of sight and scent with the other two tigers. As tigers are solitary animals, we proceeded very cautiously here," says the zoo director. For this reason, the tigress was not visible to visitors to the zoo for the first few weeks. But that has now changed: The female is already exploring the outdoor enclosure and can be observed by zoo guests.

+1

Fotos

New hope for offspring
In any case, there is no pressure to reunite the two tigers. Depending on the behavior of the animals, the timing for the next step will be carefully considered. In any case, there is new hope for offspring with the new partner. Hering-Hagenbeck: "The Siberian tiger is highly endangered. Through coordinated breeding, we are making an important contribution to the conservation of the species. If the young tiger pair has offspring with us, this will strengthen the genetic diversity of the reserve population in zoological gardens worldwide."

And the second female? She can stay at the zoo and spend the rest of her life here. The female tiger was born at Schönbrunn Zoo in 2008 and has therefore already reached an advanced age. Presumably her advanced age was also the reason why breeding with her was unfortunately not successful.