Rare Sumatran Tiger Born At Zoo Miami

MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Zoo Miami has welcomed a new arrival.

The zoo said a female Sumatran tiger was born there on January 5th. Her parents are two other Sumatran tigers, Berani and Leeloo, who reside at the zoo.

This is the second cub for Leeloo and Zoo Miami believes it was the only Sumatran tiger born in the United States since 2019.

The zoo said Leeloo is a particularly nervous and protective mother so extra precautions were taken to isolate her and her cub to reduce external stress.

On March 3rd, zoo workers were able to separate the cub from her mother so they could give her an exam. During the exam, the cub received her first set of vaccines as well as a microchip for identification.

The zoo said the healthy cub weighed about three pounds at birth and weighed 14.3 pounds during the exam.

As for her name, that will be up to you. There will be a naming contest that begins March 29th, all proceeds will go to tiger conservation.

Sumatran tigers are rare and critically endangered.

There are believed to be less than 500 Sumatran tigers left in the wild where they are found in forested areas on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. Their biggest threats are poaching and habitat loss to palm oil plantations. They are the smallest subspecies of tigers with males reaching up to 300 lbs. and females closer to 200 lbs.

There are only 72 Sumatran tigers living in U.S. zoos.