AN ADORABLE and incredibly rare tiger club has been born at a wildlife park in Cork.
Staff at Fota Wildlife Park welcomed the Sumatran tiger cub into the world back on June 25 though only confirmed the new arrival over the weekend.
It’s the second cub to be reared by the park’s resident male and female Sumatran tigers Dourga and Denar.
It follows on from Dharma who, now two-year-olds, is currently based at Edinburgh zoo as part of the park’s ongoing breeding programme
Dourga came to Fota from France’s Le Parc des Félins in 2014, while Denar arrived from Warsaw City Zoo in Poland later that year as part of the European Endangered Species programme.
They aren’t the only Sumatran tigers to reside in Fota – the wildlife park is also home to five-year-old Batak, from Zoo Parc de Beauval in France, and seven-year-old Mayang from Doué La Fontaine Zoo.
A critically endangered species according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, Sumatran tigers represent the rarest subspecies of tiger in the world.
Fota Wildlife Park is currently preparing for the arrival of its landmark 10 millionth visitor.
The park is currently gearing up to welcome its 10 millionth visitor, which is expected to happen in the next week or so.
“Fota has been open as a conservation charity and wildlife park attraction since 1983 – since then the yearly attendance has risen to over 465,000 annually,” Sean McKeown, Director of the park, said.
“The excitement is building as we prepare to honour the 10th million visitor – who we expect to walk through the gates in the next seven or eight days, all depending on the levels of visitor numbers really.
“That lucky person will win a holiday for two in South Africa including a Safari trip so it will be well worth a visit for anyone considering a great day out this August.”
See More: Endangered Species, Tigers
