Soyono, a 13-year-old Sumatran tiger, gave birth to three cubs at the National Zoo last week but the sex of the animals will not be known for several weeks, according to a release issued by zoo late Tuesday.
The cubs, which were born May 24 and typically weigh about 2 pounds at birth, will stay with their mother for several weeks until they are able to see. After that, veterinarians will determine the sex of each cub during an exam. No video or photographs of the cubs are expected until that time.
Soyono was secluded on pregnancy watch for the past few weeks and kept out of the public eye. Soyono had mated with Rokan months earlier, but male Sumatran tigers take no part in the pregnancy period and cub-rearing phase.
Sumatrans are the smallest tigers, weighing between 200 and 265 pounds depending on their sex. An estimated 500 Sumatran tigers live in the wild mountainous areas of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. There are 210 Sumatran tigers in zoos worldwide.
Soyono’s last cubs — three males named Marah, Jalan and Besar — were born in early May 2004. They were transferred to the Downtown Aquarium in Denver in January when they were 20 months old.
