SAN DIEGO (CNS) - Two critically endangered Sumatran tiger cubs born this summer emerged from their den Thursday at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, the zoo announced Thursday.
The cubs -- a female named Puteri, which means "princess" in Malay, and a male named Hutan, which means "forest" -- were born on July 12.
They are the offspring of first-time mother Diana and father Dumai and are the first cubs of their species to be born at the Safari Park's Tull Family Tiger Trail habitat in seven years.
According to the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, the births resulted from a breeding recommendation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Sumatran Tiger Species Survival Plan. Managed by conservationists nationwide, each SSP program "aims to ensure genetic diversity and healthy, self- sustaining populations of threatened and endangered wildlife," a statement from the alliance read.
Listed as Critically Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species, only an estimated 400 to 600 Sumatran tigers remain on Earth. These recent births are a "significant contribution to the global population of this tiger species," according to the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance and advance its ongoing conservation efforts.
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance works with partners in Asia through its Asian Rainforest Conservation Hub to end poaching and wildlife trafficking, while developing long-term plans to protect critically endangered Sumatran tigers.
