First litter of Sumatran tiger cubs at Tiger Island

[New display name]

Just reading about the new litter of Sumatran tiger cubs at dreamworld and found out that they will be hand trained and displayed at Tiger Island. The new cubs parents have never been to been to Tiger Island due to the fact that these tigers where not hand raised by the dreamworld staff. Dreamworld staff will soon be removing the cubs from their mother taking over that role.

[myk]

What the hell. They can't "remove" them. That's an absolute joke. Not fair to the mother of those cubs, or the cubs themselves.

Edited April 2, 2007 by myk

[Richard]

The programme Dreamworld is involved with is designed to boost numbers of the sub-species and allow for continued genetic diversity. As Bambi-esque as it may seem to take the cubs away from their mother at such a very young age, it's in the best interest of the sub-species and even the cubs themselves. Medical checkups etc. are very difficult with unwilling tigers. I've heard nothing about the new cubs being integrated to display enclosure of Tiger Island. The huge physiological differences between Bengals and Sumatrans alone makes this very nearly impossible. They'd need a separate enclosure.

[myk]

If it was in the best interest of the tigers, nature would determine that. Obviously, that isn't the way it works. I suppose they can't be to blame. It is the fault of the people who are killing off these animals for their skin etc. If they didn't, tiger cubs wouldn't have to be taken away from their mothers and raised in zoo's.

[Adam]

If it was in the best interest of the tigers, nature would determine that. Obviously, that isn't the way it works.

Nature doesn't always work to promote the existence of every species on Earth. According to Darwin's theory of evolution, only animals and organisms that can adapt to their environment will survive. Humans have had a massive impact on the environment that tigers roam, and it is a popular belief that we should be the ones to restore the animal's population to its original number, especially now that our society is better educated about nature and the environment. Edited April 2, 2007 by Adam

[myk]

That's what I'm saying. It shouldn't be up to humans to fix these problems of extinction because they shouldn't have occured in the first place.

[New display name]

In light of new information from an interview on the news last night with a dreamworld Tiger handler I would like to add more information. The cubs can be watched with their mother on monitors out side of the nursery, which is located inside Tiger Island. At 3 weeks the tigers will be removed from their mothers and placed within the nursery, at this point you will be able to watch the cubs through the windows. At 6 weeks the handlers will be walking the tigers around the park so they can interact with the guest. The tigers will also be introduced to the Bengal tigers on Tiger Island. At around 2 years of age the tigers are going to be leaving dreamworld as part of the breading programme that it is involved with. I recommend visiting the park while the handlers are walking the cubs around the park. It is your best chance to get close to a tiger without having to shell out any money. The handlers encourage you to touch the tigers during their walk around the park and you are allowed to take photos.