The Roosevelt Park Zoo in North Dakota just welcomed three new members to its growing family.
A spokesperson for the zoo told KFYR-TV that the facility’s Amur tiger Zoya gave birth to triplets over the weekend. The zoo added that the first cub was born before 6:30 a.m. on Saturday; Zoya gave birth to the last cub after 10:30 a.m. the same day.
According to Minot Daily News, four-year-old Zoya was born at the Philadelphia Zoo and transferred to her current North Dakota home in Aug. 2019. The Amur tiger made the move after the Amur Tiger Species Survival Program (SSP) suggested that Zoya and Roosevelt Park’s male Amur tiger Viktor would make a good breeding pair. The IUCN Red List currently lists Amur tigers as endangered.
“The zoo’s staff has done a terrific job planning and preparing for this special event and despite not having all of the technology that others might, were able to map and track her pregnancy from the time of the breeding introductions to the accurate prediction for the births,” Jeff Bullock, the director of the Roosevelt Park Zoo, said in a release obtained by PEOPLE.
Zoya will spend the next few weeks caring for her cubs on her own since she has proved to be an exceptional mother so far. Zookeepers don’t plan to do vet checks on the baby big cats until the mother tiger has had time to bond with the triplets. After several weeks, keepers will collect the cubs to conduct physicals and give the newborns vaccines. Once the cubs’ doctor visits are complete, they will be reintroduced to their mother.
Since the keepers haven’t had a chance to observe the cubs closely, the sex of each of the baby animals is unknown. The zoo has also not yet announced the names of the triplets.
The cubs are being cared for by Zoya behind the scenes. Once the baby animals become stronger, more independent, and more curious, the Roosevelt Park Zoo will start planning the tiger triplets’ public debut.
Until the cubs go exhibit, animal lovers can check for baby tiger updates on the Roosevelt Park Zoo’s Facebook page.
