Fewer
than 400 Sumatran tigers are left in the wild, and as their numbers continue to
dwindle, zoos are turning to captive breeding as a way to conserve the
critically endangered species.
But
captive cats don't always approach mating as if the survival of their species
depends on it. That's why the Smithsonian's National Zoo excitedly announced
this week that its two Sumatran
tigers, Kavi and Damai, finally bred.
Zoo
officials have documented the careful courtship process on their Tiger
Diary blog. They said the tigers first met in the fall of 2012, and were
initially only given visual access to each other, kept physically separated by
a door. The two were finally brought together in December when Damai, the
female, went into heat, and zoo officials prepared for a potentially volatile
conjugal visit.
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