Edinburgh Zoo begins breeding programme for Sumatran tigers

IT'S the ultimate blind date for two passion-starved felines and the fate of a species could hang on a love connection.

EARNING HIS STRIPES: Tibor has been the resident male tiger at the zoo since 2007. Picture: NEIL HANNA

Though it won't be Cilla Black playing Cupid but match-making staff at Edinburgh Zoo's tiger enclosure.

Zoo keepers hope two Sumatran tigers will fall head over paws in love when they are introduced next week.

Tibor, four, a resident male tiger at the zoo since 2007, is being prepared for the arrival of Baginda, an eight-year-old female who flew in from Benidorm last week.

She has been placed in an enclosure next to Tibor and the pair have been slowly growing accustomed to each other's sounds and scents.

Tibor must rely on his senses more than most after surgeons had to remove his right eye which had become damaged.

An operation last year was successful and he has made a full recovery adapting to being partially sighted.

Alison Maclean, carnivore team leader at the zoo, said: "We're hoping that when Tibor and Baginda meet in a few weeks they'll accept each other and become a breeding pair.

"Baginda is currently settling into her new enclosure, but over the coming weeks we'll be building up to the day they meet properly.

"We'll swap the tigers between the two enclosures, just so they get used to each other's scent, and then they will meet through a mesh partition.

"The tigers will dictate timings, but if all goes well they should spend some proper time together in six to eight weeks."

Sumatran tigers are classed as critically endangered in the wild and it is estimated that their wild population has been cut in half over the last 25 years.

Most of the remaining Sumatran tigers now live in five national parks and two game reserves, though around 100 live in an unprotected area that will most likely be lost to agriculture in the near future.

They are a sub-species of tiger only found in the wild on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Their stripes are narrower than other tigers' - ideal for camouflage in tall grasses - and their small size means they can move quickly through the jungle.

Sumatran tigers also have distinctive beards and manes, especially the males. In the wild, Sumatran tigers prey mainly on wild boar, Malayan tapirs and deer, but also monkeys, fish and birds.

Pointing to their declining numbers, zoo keepers insist nurturing an effective breeding programme could be vital.

Ms Maclean said: "In the wild, Sumatran tigers are critically endangered and the lowest estimate is that there could only be 300 left in the wild, so the birth of Sumatran tiger cubs would be extremely significant."