25 July 2018

Tiger cubs at the Zoo

Born on Saturday 23 June 2018, our Amur tiger cubs are growing up fast and have each developed their own little personalities.

For our keepers, it's vital that they are also able to visually identify each cub individually for management and veterinary reasons. They study the patterns on the cubs’ faces to find ways to distinguish them, though it can still be difficult to tell them apart sometimes! 

Find out a little bit more about them and how you can identify them for yourselves.

Amur tiger cub, Czar, at Whipsnade Zoo

Czar the tiger cub

Gender: Male 

Character: Czar has always been the most confident cub, venturing away from mum Naya and the other cubs from an early age. As a result, keepers gave him this name meaning a leader or ruler.

Distinctive features: You can identify him by the two large, black circles on his forehead. Czar also has a thick stripe running down from the base of his tail.

Baby elephant at the Zoo

Makari the Amur tiger cub at Whipsnade Zoo

Makari the tiger cub

Gender: Male

Character: Makari has grown a lot in confidence over the last few weeks and is always keen for food and play. He also doesn’t seem to be too bothered by an audience!

Distinctive features: You can identify him by the more heart shaped lines above the eyes, one of which looks like a rough letter ‘M’ above his right eye. He also has a very thick black line under the eyes and generally more black between the eyes and on the cheeks.

Rhino calf at the Zoo

Amur tiger cub Dmitri

Dmitri the tiger cub

Gender: Male

Character: Dmitri is also a cheeky character with his parents and brothers, but he's still a little shy around people.

Distinctive features: You can identify him by the sideways number ‘5’ marking on his right temple - a feature that earned him the nickname ‘5’ in previous weeks! He has a paler forehead than Makari, with less black between the eyes/eyebrows and on the cheeks.

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