WASHINGTON — (AP) The Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington says it’s home to a new cat: a Sumatran tiger cub.
The zoo says in a statement that 8-year-old Sumatran tiger Damai gave birth to the cub on Tuesday. The zoo says keepers watched the birth via a closed-circuit camera and that the cub appears to be nursing and behaving normally.
Damai arrived at the Smithsonian from the San Diego Zoo in 2011. The cub’s father is 13-year-old Sparky, who came from the Louisville Zoo in 2016. The zoo says the cub is Sparky’s first. Damai has been a mom before and gave birth to cubs Bandar and Sukacita in 2013.
Sumatran tigers are listed as critically endangered and it’s estimated that between 300 and 400 exist in the wild.
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