Tiny Bolivian wildcat identified as first new feline species in a century<\/a><\/p>\nThe cubs have remained behind the scenes with their mother while keepers monitor their growth and development.<\/p>\n
In recent weeks, Barani and Malu have learned to jump, run and climb, begun eating small amounts of meat and have been introduced to water, the zoo said. They still nurse frequently and have also begun playing and play-fighting with each other and their mother, according to the zoo.<\/p>\n
Keepers said Ndari has displayed strong maternal behaviors as a first-time mother, including nursing, bathing, playing with and carrying the cubs around their den.<\/p>\n
The sisters\u2019 names were inspired by their personalities and by languages spoken in Indonesia, home to the Sumatran tiger.<\/p>\n
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Barani means \u201cbrave,\u201d according to the zoo. Keepers describe the smaller cub as a \u201cspitfire\u201d who frequently initiates play-fighting with her sister.
Malu means \u201cshy or reserved.\u201d Keepers said she is more independent and sometimes retreats to a neighboring barn stall to nap by herself.<\/p>\n
Why the births matter<\/p>\n
Fewer than 650\u00a0Sumatran tigers remain in the wild, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, with habitat loss and deforestation among the major threats to the population.<\/p>\n
The Fort Worth Zoo participates in a cooperative breeding program with other North American zoos designed to maintain a genetically diverse and healthy population of Sumatran tigers in human care.<\/p>\n
The zoo expanded its tiger habitat as part of Predators of Asia & Africa, which opened in 2023. The project doubled the size of the zoo\u2019s previous tiger habitat and included an expanded yard and renovated behind-the-scenes barn.<\/p>\n
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Because Barani and Malu are the first cubs to use the renovated habitat, keepers want to make sure they are large and strong enough to safely navigate the space, including its water features, before allowing them into the public exhibit.<\/p>\n
The zoo said the cubs could make their public debut in the coming weeks and plans to announce updates on its website and social media accounts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Meet Barani and Malu. The Fort Worth Zoo has welcomed two critically endangered Sumatran tiger cubs \u2014 the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":455064,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[116,118,117,89512,125664,88643],"class_list":["post-455063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth-headlines","tag-fort-worth-news","tag-tp-texas","tag-tp-cute-animals","tag-tp-fort-worth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=455063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455063\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/455064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=455063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=455063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=455063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}