Watch: Meet Fota Wildlife Park’s newest resident — Jambi the rare Sumatran tiger

Critically endangered Sumatran tiger Jambi, who recently arrived at Fota from Heidelberg Zoo, Germany. Picture: Sinead Donnachie, Fota Wildlife Park

There’s a new big cat in Fota Wildlife Park. A female Sumatran tiger named Jambi arrived in Fota from Heidelberg Zoo, Germany on February 21 as part of a European endangered breeding programme (EEP).

She has settled into her new habitat in the park’s Asian Sanctuary.

“Jambi was quiet for the first few days, but she is now a lot more confident, and we have started tong feeding her and doing some basic training. We introduce the tigers through the mesh during this stage, and the three are getting on well,” said Fota’s lead ranger Julien Fonteneau.

As part of the EEP breeding programme move, Fota’s male tiger Denar was transferred to Cottbus Zoo in Germany on the same day to breed with a female Sumatran tiger at Cottbus Zoo. Dennar was Fota’s first male Sumatran tiger and had two offspring with Dourga — Dharma and Dash — while in Cork.

In mid-2022 the female Sumatran tiger Dourga moved to West Midlands Safari Park and her male offspring Dash, born at Fota, moved to Chester Zoo on the same day. Dash quickly settled in and mated with the resident female Kasarna which resulted in the birth of two cubs on the 7th of January 2023.

To avoid inbreeding and to maintain as much genetic diversity in the EEP breeding programme as possible, the tigers are often moved between zoological parks to breed with different mates.

Jambi has settled in at Fota after a quiet first few days.

The Sumatran tiger is one of the rarest subspecies of tigers in the world and was classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2008. 

It is estimated that fewer than 350 individuals remain in the wild and every Sumatran tiger born in zoological parks is maintained as an insurance population in case the Sumatran tiger becomes extinct in the wild.

Fota Wildlife Park turns 40 in June and is set to announce a programme of live events across the season, including feeding times which have recommenced and are available daily throughout the Park this St Patrick's weekend.