Amur tiger cub photo

[TrpnBils]

Normally I don't take many pictures at work but I had to grab this one today. The chute between the indoor and outdoor cat areas is right in front of my off-exhibit reptile area and this cub has been hanging out there a lot lately while he gets used to his shipping crate. He'll be moving to the Bronx Zoo in early 2011.

"Yuri" - Amur Tiger cub... can't remember the exact age but he's around 7 or 8 months I think. He's really playful but I wouldn't want to get in there with him!

 

[Outcast]

I would kind of want to pet him...lol. That is why it is not safe for me to work around cute fluffy "I can Kill YOU!" animals...lol

 

[desertanimal]

Great photo. :cheers:

 

[Lennycorn]

Sounds like a cool job to have.

Great picture too. Thanks for sharing it with us

 

[TrpnBils]

Thanks It has its ups and downs for sure, but how often do you get to see something like this at your average job? That's the stuff I love about it!

 

[azhketh]

That photo is perfect. The way he's looking up, it's like when Bolt does the sad eyes to beg for food. XD Maybe that's what the cub is doing, he wants to nibble your fingers.

 

[Nanci]

Very cute! The zoo where I grew up, at the time, wasn't all "don't let the animals have human interaction" so I got to play with some baby lions and tigers and gorillas and bears and camel and elephant as a kid/teenager. It was pretty cool. (My uncle was a docent, so he got to take animals out for programs. I did that too, for years, when I was a teen).

 

[azhketh]

Very cute! The zoo where I grew up, at the time, wasn't all "don't let the animals have human interaction" so I got to play with some baby lions and tigers and gorillas and bears and camel and elephant as a kid/teenager. It was pretty cool. (My uncle was a docent, so he got to take animals out for programs. I did that too, for years, when I was a teen).

Seems to me that if done safely, human interaction would be good for them. Give the animal something interesting to do besides stare at zoo visitors.

 

[Irish Eyes (Mrs.Z)]

Yuri is both beautiful and adorable. I love his eyes!

 

[Daenerys]

That is THE most adorable tiger cub photo ever!!!

 

[TrpnBils]

Seems to me that if done safely, human interaction would be good for them. Give the animal something interesting to do besides stare at zoo visitors.

It is good for them to an extent, but in Yuri's case his mother spent a lot of time carrying him around as a cub and actually tore the skin on his neck as a result so he was hand raised from about 4 weeks old... now he's too imprinted. When he gets shipped to the Bronx it will be with some other tigers as part of a program to get them to learn how to be a tiger (that is my understanding of it anyway)...

 

[dragonmoon]

Great picture im hoping we get a chance to go see him before he leaves

 

[SquamishSerpents]

great picture indeed! his fur looks so soft, i just want to give a big kiss!

 

[TrpnBils]

Great picture im hoping we get a chance to go see him before he leaves

Thanks! But you missed your shot at that unfortunately... we're closed to the public from December through March 1st and I think he's leaving in late January

 

[dragonmoon]

are the other cubs staying or going to other locations as well??? we always get our year long family passes but not had a chance since the cubs arrived

 

[TrpnBils]

Well, he was the only tiger cub, and we shipped out 2 jag cubs earlier this year.... we might have a polar bear cub by then though!

 

[dragonmoon]

my bad lol i thought being from Erie you worked at the Pitt zoo I knew they had 3 cubs

 

[TrpnBils]

Nope - Erie Zoo Still AZA accredited like the Pittsburgh Zoo is, just a little smaller. I'd like to work there, but that 2+ hour drive each way would be a real haul from here...lol