The Louisville Zoo is showing off its newest addition: a Sumatran tiger cub

Author: Addie Meiners

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WLKY) – On Tuesday, the Louisville Zoo introduced its newest addition to the public: a Sumatran tiger cub.

The little one was born in July and has been training and growing up under the supervision of zoo staff and his mother, Jenga, for the past 10 weeks.

“He just needs to be big enough that he can kind of move around the exhibit and that his mom feels comfortable having him there,” said Jill Katka, associate curator of mammals at the Louisville Zoo. “So she’s still breastfeeding and will continue to do so for a few weeks. But we worked to get him out and the bouncers monitored and made sure everything was going well.

The toddler had fun Tuesday, wrestling with his mother and running to the window where little children were watching him.

“He seems to enjoy interacting with some of the children and goes straight to the glass and sometimes even makes a cute jump,” Katka said.

The tiger cub is one of four babies the zoo currently has. In the last six months, the zoo has added a giraffe calf, an addax calf and a gorilla.

“We’re dealing with a baby boom at the zoo, and it’s amazing,” Katka said. “All the kids we have here are planned, but sometimes you don’t know if it’s even going to work out. Sometimes it’s the right time and it’s always up to the animals.”

The Sumatran tiger is a critically endangered species. The two tigers at the zoo are two of fewer than 600 individuals living in the world.

For this reason, the zoo wants to give the baby tiger a name that will increase awareness of the species.

There are three options to choose from: Satu, Saya Sambal or Kaji.

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