London Zoo to open £3.6 million flagship exhibit
Image: Chris Allen
In two months time, ZSL London Zoo will open the doors to Tiger Territory, and brand new £3.6 million flagship exhibit, which will house the zoo's latest arrivals - Jae Jae and Melati, a pair of Sumatran tigers.
Jae Jae and Melati will be housed in a spectacular Indonesian-inspired habitat, which has been designed to meet every sensory need of the endangered creatures. The zoo is home to world-leading tiger experts, and has housed the big cats for over 100 years. The new 27,000sqft exhibit has been created in collaboration with conservationists and the tiger experts at ZSL to ensure it is perfectly suited to the tigers.
The exhibit will allow the tigers to climb and observe their terrain from a towering vantage point. It will also feature high feeding poles to encourage their natural predatory behaviours and tall trees for them to scale. There will be a custom-built pool, and the tigers have all-day access to indoor dens where visitors can see them relaxing on heated rocks.
ZSL aims to breed the pair of Sumatran tigers in order to try to reverse the bleak fate of this critically endangered species. Tiger Territory will also enable the zoo to acquire more information about these animals, which can then be applied to its international field conservation projects.
Both the Global Management Species Programme and the European breeding programme for Sumatran tigers are coordinated by the experts at London Zoo. Specialists are responsible for managing a healthy and diverse population of tigers in zoos around the world.
Tiger Territory is the result of a major public fundraising campaign led by ZSL London Zoo, and will provide a central hub for its tiger conservation work when it opens on March 22 2013. Click here to find out more.
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