{"id":528319,"date":"2026-07-06T19:00:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T19:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/528319\/"},"modified":"2026-07-06T19:00:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T19:00:08","slug":"cuban-zoo-celebrates-birth-of-bengal-tigers-amid-energy-crisis-cuba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/528319\/","title":{"rendered":"Cuban zoo celebrates birth of Bengal tigers amid energy crisis | Cuba"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">For the Cuban zookeeper \u00c1ngel Cordero, the sight of four Bengal \u2060tiger cubs playing in a cage at the Cuban national zoo is a small miracle on an island stifled by shortages \u2060of fuel, medicine and \u2060days-long power outages.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The \u200bbirth of these endangered big cats \u2013 including an exceedingly rare white tiger \u2013 has revitalised a team of zoo workers, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cIt\u2019s only the second time\u201d white tigers have been born in Cuba, he said, gleaming \u2060with pride despite the heat and strain of dealing with seemingly endless problems. \u201cAnd I \u200bwas there for it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Cordero, who has worked \u200cat the zoo \u200cfor 44 years, has witnessed decades of hardship on the island. But he describes the \u200csituation following the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2026\/may\/14\/cuba-us-energy-blockade-oil-fuel-petrol-runs-out\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">US imposition of an oil blockade<\/a> as an unprecedented challenge for the lion and tiger enclosures he himself helped build.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Workers require 20 litres of diesel fuel daily to distribute food to the zoo\u2019s varied array of animals, including buffalo, zebras, rhinoceroses, and hippopotamuses. They receive only a five-litre allotment daily, far short \u200cof what is needed for proper feeding and maintenance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Juan Carlos Santos, the zoo director, told Reuters that despite the energy crisis, the animal \u200bpopulation has remained stable thanks to the efforts of zoo workers and new partnerships with small, private businesses that contribute supplies to keep the animals alive.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Meanwhile, zoo workers like Cordero must now resort to horse and buggy and electric tricycles to move around the vast, 375-hectare (926-acre) \u2060zoo grounds, unable to fully source the fuel they need to \u200boperate their vehicles.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cEverything relies \u200bon fuel,\u201d said Cordero. \u201cThe animals\u2019 movements, \u200band the distribution of food (such as in the African savannah enclosure), which \u200bmust be transported \u200con wheels; there is \u200bsimply no \u200bother way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Officials said recent economic reforms that, if implemented, would transition Cuba\u2019s socialist economy to a free-market model, could also help revitalise activities at the zoo, opening opportunities for foreign investment, scientific exchange and fresh supplies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For the Cuban zookeeper \u00c1ngel Cordero, the sight of four Bengal \u2060tiger cubs playing in a cage at&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":528320,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[242,85,46,141],"class_list":["post-528319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=528319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528319\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/528320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=528319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=528319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=528319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}