There’s a new baby tiger in Fota Island and it’s looking for a name

Of course there is a catch, the name has to begin with the letter, D.

Fota Wildlife Park have announced the birth of a Sumatran Tiger cub, which is one of the rarest subspecies of tiger in the world.

So rare, that is was classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2008.

The cub came into the world on the May 7 to first time parents, five-year-old mother Dourga and father Denar who is also five.

Although the Wildlife Park do not yet know the sex of the cub, they are calling for the public to suggest a name - but there’s a catch, the name has to begin with the letter ‘D’.

The person who has suggested the chosen name will be in with a chance to win a yearlong Conservation Membership to Fota Wildlife Park.

This can be done via their website www.fotawildlife.ie.

Kelly Lambe, Lead Ranger had this to say about the new arrival: “Dourga and Denar hit it off from the start with lots of friendly chuffs or vocalisations exchanged during their initial courtship.

“We are delighted to welcome this beautiful new addition to the Park, who will be a valuable member of the larger tiger family therefore helping to ensure the survival of the species all whilst being incredible cute!”

As part of the International Tiger Breeding programme the new parents arrived to Fota Wildlife Park’s Asian Sanctuary in March of 2014.

Mother Dourga originally came from Le Parc des Félins in France and father Denar from Warsaw City Zoo in Poland.

They now share their habitat with two other Sumatran tigers; Batak, a three-year-old male that came in 2015 from Zoo Parc de Beauval in France and Mayang, a five-year-old female who arrived last week from Safari Zoo in the UK.