If you’re a Siberian tiger that likes to play tug-o-war, then life’s pretty good at Columbus Zoo.
Keepers at the zoo and aquarium in Ohio offered their big cats a game of the classic sport, from behind the safety of a locked gate of course.
This is something completely new that we have just started doing with our tigers. Thanks to our amazing maintenance man Mike, who welded together this cool tube so we could thread a rope through it, we were able to provide this new enrichment for the tigers. It’s also a great way to demonstrate how incredibly strong the tigers are, and how they are able to carry large prey long distances! After watching many different videos of how other Zoos do this, we finally have a tug-o-war of our own! It's quite a lot of fun and we have presented it to guests during Member Mania this summer! This video is the third time we tried it with the cubs, who at first were not exactly sure what to do! It didn't take long for them to really get into it! Their mom, Mara, also seems interested, but (for now) she prefers to take a nap while the cubs play. This activity really displays just how incredibly strong they are! We also keep some roast as a treat on hand in case we cannot get them to let go! So far they seem to prefer the meat treat to the game, and they let go pretty easy. So far… –Christy, Asia Quest keeperPosted by Columbus Zoo and Aquarium on Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Despite their seemingly considerable size, the tigers seen in the video are cubs, of three born at the zoo in July 2017.
The cubs are the offspring of mother Mara, who was born at Pittsburgh Zoo in 2006, and father Jupiter who was moved to Columbus in March 2015 from the Czech Republic, part of a programme to increase the genetic health and diversity of tigers in human care.
The three cubs are called Mabelle, George and Tim, and they also enjoy splashes in an indoor pool as part of their enrichment at the zoo.
When the tigers are indoors, we make sure we provide lots of fun enrichment for them. We have this giant plastic pool that we give the tigers so they have the opportunity to play in the water. The tigers are usually unsure of this thing when they first see it. After exploring it a bit more, all three cubs love the water tub! Fun Fact: unlike your housecat, tigers LOVE water! I love this video because it shows Mabelle getting inside it in the most awkward way! I'd assume she'd just jump in! But, because it was the first day they had ever seen it, I think she wanted to make sure she knew where the bottom was before jumping in! It's just so cute. –Christy, Asia Quest keeperPosted by Columbus Zoo and Aquarium on Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Siberian tigers are also known as Amur tigers and are natives to Asia, once found across the Russian Far East, northern China and Korean peninsula.
According to the World Wildlife Federation however, hunting has caused the critically endangered species’ numbers to dwindle to just 540, though this is risen from around 40 individuals in the 1940s.
