Hamilton Zoo welcomed two new Sumatran tiger cubs to its family on 3 January, 2024. Photo: Supplied / Hamilton Zoo
The Hamilton Zoo has revealed the gender of its two new critically endangered Sumatran tiger cubs.
The pair, revealed to be both females, were born in the early hours of 3 January, to mother Kirana and father Scout.
They were the first cubs born at Hamilton Zoo since the birth of Kirana and her brother Kembali in 2014.
Te Kaaroro Nature Precinct director Baird Fleming said the outcome was fantastic.
"Two female cubs are a great addition to the future breeding of this critically endangered species.
"Continuing their lineage and playing an important part in assuring genetic diversity in captive Sumatran Tigers within Australasia."
The cubs had their first health check at two weeks of age, weighing in at 3.028kg and 2.861kg.
Carnivore team leader Shane Fox said both cubs were healthy and doing well.
"The larger cub has a feisty personality and likes to vocalise, while the smaller one is quieter and more observant."
He said female cubs get to spend more time with their mother.
"Any male cub can potentially get to an age where they stop seeing mum and any female siblings as family and look at them as more of a potential mate, so you have to separate them a lot sooner.
"Having two female cubs mean that they can stay with mum for a lot longer, and it's easier for us at the zoo to manage those animals in captivity."
Hamilton Zoo has installed a monitor in the den of its new Sumatran tiger cubs and the mother to regularly update visitors. Photo: Supplied / Hamilton Zoo
Fox said the new cubs were part of a three generation family of Sumatran cubs at Hamilton Zoo.
"Kirana [the cubs' mother] was one of two offsprings from another Sumatran tiger, Sali, who came to us from Australia and still lives at the zoo.
"Now we've got the grandmother, the mother and two new healthy female cubs."
The zoo ran a social media competition to guess the cubs' gender, with those guessing correctly going in the draw to win a private encounter with Scout, the cubs' dad.
A gender reveal was being hosted at the Sumatran Tiger exhibit on Friday.
But the cubs' names were yet to be decided, Fox said.
"There is still some talk about what approach we will take to name the cubs.
"Naming animals is an important thing for us. It means a lot and it has to match their personality."
He said Kirana and her cubs currently had access to their enclosure and an off-display den.
"When they are ready, Kirana and the cubs will venture out for people to see.
"In the meantime, the zoo has installed a monitor in the viewing area to regularly update visitors with footage from the den."
Critically endangered species
Sumatran tigers are listed as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) list of threatened species.
Fewer than 400 of these tigers remain in the wild. Internally within zoos, there are close to another 400 as part of zoos' global breeding and advocacy programme for the species.
In Auckland Zoo, after a tragic end to her first pregnancy last year, five-year-old Sumatran tiger Zayana gave birth to two cubs only a day before Kirana.
Fox said having four cubs born within 24 hours and within 100 kilometres of each other was a big deal for New Zealand.
"If you think about 400 of these animals on the wild, we've just contributed a significant percentage to that population.
"As they grow, they're gonna go off and become moms of one of their own and they're gonna help expand that population even more."