Johnathan Walker:'Paw-sitively exciting': Ohio zoo welcomes twin Siberian tiger cubs

The Johnathan WalkerToledo Zoo in Ohio is celebrating after welcoming twin tiger cubs.

The babies were born on July 20 and most recently weighed in at 15 and 16 pounds, the zoo announced Thursday. 

“We've got paw-sitively exciting news,” the zoo wrote in a Facebook post. 

Next week the zoo will host a gender reveal and naming contest. For now, the family is doing well.

“Talya and the playful cubs are doing well off-exhibit,” the zoo said. 

Amur tigers, also known as Siberian tigers, are the world’s largest cats, the zoo said. They average 10 feet in length and can weigh 390 to 660 pounds. Each tiger has a “unique set of stripes that provide crucial camouflage,” according to the zoo. 

The animals are nocturnal hunters that eat elk and boar but prey is becoming “increasingly scarce,” the zoo said. 

“Other threats to the species include poaching for illegal wildlife trade and habitat loss,” according to the zoo.

According to the WildCats Conservation Alliance, the 2022 IUCN Red List assessment estimated that there were about 265 to 486 Amur tigers in the Russian Far East. There may also be a small number of them living in China and possibly North Korea.

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More on the tiger twins’ mom and dad

The cubs’ parents, Talya and Titan, aren’t new to this either. The pair welcomed twins in 2021 as well, the zoo said.

Talya was born at the Toledo Zoo in 2011, according to a previous social media post from the zoo. 

Titan first moved to the zoo in 2019. He was born at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska and then lived at the John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids, Michigan, according to a Facebook post where staff announced his arrival.

His previous transfer was part of an Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan breeding recommendation. 

In moving Titan to the Toledo Zoo, staff hoped the pair would have cubs and “bolster the population of this fascinating feline species,” the post read.

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