Meet Milwaukee's Animals: Kash the Amur tiger has lived at the Milwaukee County Zoo since 2016

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25-02-2025

In our Meet Milwaukee's Animals series, we speak to an animal caretaker each month to share the stats and stories that make some of our favorite animals so fascinating.
Zookeeper Sheri Guay loves her job. As supervisor of the Milwaukee County Zoo's Florence Mila Borchert Big Cat Country area, she gets to spend her days hanging out with (and caring for) some of the zoo's most popular animals, including snow leopards, lions, jaguars and cheetahs.
One of those animals holds a special place in her heart — Kash, an 8-year-old Amur tiger she's known since the day she witnessed his birth.
In a recent interview with the Journal Sentinel, Guay shared Kash's bio as well as a few anecdotes.
What type of animal is Kash? Kash is an Amur tiger. Amur tigers also have been called Siberian tigers since their natural habitat is mostly in eastern Russia. Amur tigers are considered critically endangered.
Where does Kash's name come from? Kash is short for Kashtan, a Russian word that means "chestnut."
How old is Kash? Kash was born on Sept. 14, 2016; he's 8 years old. The typical longevity for Amur tigers in the wild is 10 to 15 years; Amur tigers in human care usually live longer.
How big is Kash? Kash currently weighs 180 kilograms, which is nearly 400 pounds.
What does Kash eat? Kash eats about 9 pounds of meat per day, spread out over a few different feedings. Much of his food comes in the form of zoo-formulated ground meat enriched with the specific vitamins and minerals tigers need. He also receives whole prey like guinea pigs and rabbits, and on "bone day," he is given femurs from cows. According to Guay, "Bone day is Kash's favorite."
Where does Kash live, and who are his roommates? Kash lives in Florence Mila Borchert Big Cat Country, where he splits time between the indoor and outdoor habitats, as well as his behind-the-scenes enclosure. The zoo also has two female Amur tigers, Tula and Natasha. Because tigers are solitary animals, they don't share enclosures; rather, the three tigers are rotated through the different areas of their habitat each day.
Kash and three sibling cubs were born to their mother, Amba — who has since died — in 2016. Zookeepers typically stay as hands-off as possible with animals and their mothers after a birth, especially moms like Amba, who wasn't a first-time mom. Generally, it's better for the animals to bond on their own and exercise their natural care instincts.
In Kash's case, that had to change when one of his siblings died after contracting an infection that couldn't be treated; when Kash started to not use his left rear leg, just as his sibling had, zookeepers realized he also had contracted an infection.
Kash was moved to the zoo hospital for treatment; he stayed there for several days.
"We hand-fed and took care of him," Guay said. "At the time, there weren't a lot of zoos putting back animals that had to be removed, because it was possible that the mom could reject and kill them.
"So we made the decision to keep Kash separated from his mom."
Although Kash had to stay separated from Amba, Guay noted that zookeepers still wanted Kash to be socialized by tigers rather than humans.
"It's so important for tigers to be tigers and learn tiger language," Guay said. "So we started to do sister time with the other two cubs; we would crate them and bring them over to Kash so he could get that social tiger aspect."
Guay said that at first, Kash's sisters, Eloise and Bernadette, were "terrified of the crate, but when they realized that they got to play with new toys they didn't have with their mom, they would run to the crate and loved play time with Kash."
When the cubs were a few months old, Amba had a cancerous tumor removed from her spine and needed to recover on her own. At that point, the cubs lived together full time, until they were about 18 months old.
Guay said Eloise and Bernadette "were the best at teaching Kash what a 'tiger no' means."
The cubs would eat in separate dens, and Kash sometimes wanted to play with his sisters before they were ready.
"They would immediately make it clear that, 'No, you're not allowed to come in here,' and Kash learned to be very respectful," Guay said. "They taught him what tiger language is, and that's really important for future breeding."
In November 2023, a female Amur tiger, Natasha, came to Milwaukee from the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, in the hope that she someday will breed with Kash.
Early on in her time in Milwaukee, Natasha was found to have blastomycosis, a fungal infection, for which she's been treated ever since. Although Natasha is "acting totally normal physically and behaviorally," according to Guay, she still tests positive for the infection, so until her "blasto numbers get to that sweet spot of 0," she won't be breeding with Kash.
Even when Natasha is well, Guay said, Milwaukee County Zoo animals are never coerced into breeding; that decision will be left to Kash and Natasha. Guay said zookeepers will wait for signs that Natasha is in estrus (the period of time when female tigers are willing to share space because they're ready to mate), and then they'll work on a plan for how to "get Natasha and Kash together."
Kash and Natasha do see each other often from their separate behind-the-scenes enclosures. The first time Natasha was brought to the building, Guay said Kash chuffed at her — "a very good, friendly tiger sound" — but Natasha growled back at him.
"He was heartbroken, like, 'Nobody ever yells at me, I'm like a puppy,'" Guay said. "Since then, though, there's been a lot of chuffing going back and forth, head rubbing on the mesh while looking at each other and a lot of spraying that we humans have to hide from.
"Those are all positive tiger signs."
Kash's chuffing isn't reserved for Natasha; the friendly tiger sound is his most common vocalization to humans, as well.
"I don't want to say he's a ham," Guay said. "But he kind of is; he knows he's handsome, and during tours, he struts and chuffs at people.
"He's a very sweet tiger who loves attention and loves training. After a weekend, when I get to work, it's one of my favorite things to see him chuffing at me, like he's asking me, 'Where have you been?'"
Guay said Kash rarely growls. She does remember him growling at a new maintenance employee once. The next time a new maintenance person arrived, he was told to either attempt to chuff or "baby-talk Kash."
"As big as he is, Kash still acts like a baby sometimes; he was peeking his head out like he wasn't sure about the new guy," Guay said. "So he said to Kash in baby-talk, 'Who's a pretty kitty?' And Kash was like, 'That's me,' and immediately came closer to him.
"He also appreciates when people try to chuff at him. Even if it doesn't sound remotely like a chuff, he'll know you're trying and chuff back like he's saying, 'Hey, friend.'"
Is there another animal who lives in Milwaukee you want to learn more about? It could be an animal who lives at the zoo, the Milwaukee Public Museum or one of the area nature centers. Let us know by emailing [e-mail] with "Milwaukee Animals" in the subject line.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Meet Milwaukee's Animals: Kash, a tiger at the Milwaukee County Zoo