03-04-2025
Zoo Knoxville gives insight into new Malayan Tiger's adjustment
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Zoo Knoxville's newest Malayan tiger, who was brought in as part of a breeding recommendation, is settling in. On Wednesday, the zoo gave 6 News a look behind the scenes into how he is adjusting to his new home.
Last week, Zoo Knoxville shared that it had welcomed 10-year-old male Malayan tiger named Jango through a Species Survival Program by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. According to the zoo, he is considered the most genetically valuable male Malayan tiger in the world.
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Since he has arrived, Jango has slowly been adjusting to his new habitat slowly, with zoo staff keeping a close eye on him to make sure he is not too stressed by the changes.
Zookeepers have been working to make sure the tiger has plenty of enrichment among meeting his other needs while also keeping up with training sessions. As keepers work with Jango, one of the tools they use is considered a 'Jackpot,' Director of Animal Care, Conservation and Education Phil Colclough explained. For Jango, that Jackpot is essentially 'watered down blood.'
'It's the same stuff whenever you thaw out ground beef at home, you get that that albumin and that liquid that would that occurs at the bottom and we save that and use that for our training. That's a real jackpot. That's a real thing that that they like a whole lot,' Colclough said. 'We want to make sure that our animals participate as much in their own veterinary healthcare as is possible. So we really want our our animals to be able to open up their mouths on command or raise up so you can see their bellies and look into their eyes and get all those things done that you need to do without actually sedating them to do that.'
When he isn't training, eating, or taking part in enrichment activities like pulling or dragging things around, he's likely sleeping. Zookeeper Wendy Boulger explained that Malayan tigers, like Jango, sleep for upwards of 16 to 20 hours per day.
Jango was recommended to breed with the zoo's female Malayan tiger Batarai, who is among the top 10 most genetically valuable female tigers of her subspecies, according to Boulger. Neither tiger have produced cubs before, and the pairing was chosen to help preserve the subspecies' genetic diversity. There are several subspecies of tigers, Boulger explained, and Malayan tigers are the second smallest subspecies.
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Although the zoo has been attempting to breed Malayan tigers for around a decade, they have been unsuccessful so far. Boulger explained they are hoping Batari and Jango's more 'spunky' personalities will make a good pairing that results in cubs.
Colclough also explained that the zoo had previously hoped to breed Batari with their other male Malayan tiger, Tahan, but because of his age and how stressful breeding can be on tigers, the decision was made that he was too old to be responsibly bred.
She said in the wild, there are estimated to be 200 or less Malayan tigers left. While the hope is that conservation may be able to prevent the subspecies from becoming extinct in the wild, the Malayan tiger faces that possibility because of poaching and deforestation for palm oil farming.
'We want to make sure that these specific species are not cross breeding with other species, that these guys are specific to Malaysia and that these Malayan tigers that are losing their habitat, they are being poached and killed for other reasons. That if we were need needing to release them out to the wild far down the line, if it were to ever be that they do go extinct in the wild, that we have specific Malayan tigers to go into the wild.' Boulger said.
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In addition to visiting Zoo Knoxville, where part of the ticket cost goes toward conservation efforts, one way that people can help with the conservation of the Malayan tiger is by researching and purchasing sustainably made items containing palm oil, both Boulger and Colclough said.
'There is a PalmOil Scan app that you can download on your phone. That helps you find sustainable products in stores. Whether it there be candy, shampoo, you know body wash, things like that… Palm oil is found in pretty much everything,' Boulger explained.
The PalmOil Scan app, created by the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is available for download from Google Play and the Apple App Store.
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