T

he management of Medan Zoo in North Sumatra will no longer choose animals that are too old for its breeding program following the recent death of a Sumatran tiger cub as a result of premature birth and malnutrition.

The zoo had earlier made headlines after the tiger cub was born at its compound on Feb. 19. The cub'€™s mother was an 18-year-old female tiger named Manis.

Manis had previously given birth to three other cubs fathered by her mate, 19-year-old Anhar.

The condition of the cub, which was estimated to be 2.3 kilograms in weight and 30 centimeters long at birth, however, quickly deteriorated as a result of its premature birth and Manis'€™ inability to produce enough milk for her cub.

The cub died last Friday, just eight days after it was born.

'€œA Sumatran tiger normally gives birth after a 115-day pregnancy. The ill-fated cub, however, was born after a 70-day pregnancy,'€ the zoo'€™s health and conservation affairs head, Sucitrawan, said on Sunday.

Medan Zoo manager Zainul Akbar Nasution said the death of the cub was the first for the zoo, which now has nine Sumatran tigers.

Following the incident, the zoo'€™s veterinarians have recommended the separation of older animals from their mates to prevent another premature birth, Zainul said.

'€œWe don'€™t want to see another premature birth from a mother that is too old to reproduce,'€ he said.

Medan Zoo currently has 180 animals from 45 species in its collection. Apart from Manis and Anhar, other older animals include two elephants and two sun bears.

The Switzerland-based International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed the Sumatran tiger as a critically endangered species since 1996.

The organization reported that the species had been struggling with habitat loss amid the expansion of oil palm and acacia plantations, as well as illegal trading, primarily for the domestic market.

Poachers frequently hunt the tigers, which are native to the vast and diverse habitats of Sumatra, as their body parts fetch high prices for their use in traditional medicines in Asia.

In August last year, the police arrested four men for allegedly killing a Sumatran tiger and trying to sell its body parts.

Without human intervention, the Sumatran tiger can live for around 20 years before dying from natural causes.

The males are ready to mate when they reach five years old, while the females are ready at about three-and-a-half years of age.

Sucitrawan said the cub looked very weak prior to its death. The zoo'€™s veterinarians, however, were not immediately aware of the situation as Manis was extremely protective and refused to allow anyone near her cub.

'€œThe mother is too old so she could not produce enough milk,'€ she said.

The local administration-owned company Perusahaan Daerah Kota Medan acting chief Putrama alKhairi, who also serves as the zoo'€™s supervisor, said the remains of the ill-fated cub would be preserved along with several other animals that had died in recent months.

'€œ[The remains of] every animal that dies in the Medan Zoo are preserved,'€ he said.

Putrama also expressed concern about the death of the cub, saying that the zoo management always provided enough nutrition for all animals in its collection, including Manis.

'€œWe tried our best to help the cub to survive. However, we only managed to save its mother,'€ he said.

Last month, a Sumatran tiger at the Kinantan Cultural and Wildlife Park (TMBK) in Bukittinggi,
West Sumatra, gave birth to a pair of male cubs, increasing the number of Sumatran tigers at the park to seven.

Data from West Sumatra Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) shows that the population of Sumatran tigers in the wild currently stands at around 400 in the whole of Sumatra.