AKRON, Ohio — The Akron Zoo announced Thursday it has welcomed a Sumatran tiger and two cinereous vultures to its family.
Sumini, a 2-year-old female Sumatran tiger, will make her public debut next year, as announced by the zoo. The zoo said she was moved to the Akron Zoo from the Dallas Zoo after recommendations from the Sumatran Tiger Species Survival Plan (SSP). The job of the SSP is to main the health of a species, as well as promote growth and provide safe environments.
Sumini will be paired up with the zoo’s male tiger, Eko, in the future.
The zoo’s previous female tiger, Diburu, had been moved to another zoo based on recommendations from the SSP as well.
As for the cinereous vultures, they are a brand new species at the zoo. The male, Irv, is 33 years old, and the female, Bondi, is 24 years old. These two are a bonded pair from the Denver Zoo and made the move after breeding recommendations from the Cinereous Vulture SSP. The zoo said Thursday is their first public debut, and their habitat is located next to the zoo’s snow leopards.
This kind of vulture is listed as near threatened, the zoo said, because of depleted zoo sources, habitat destruction, hunting and poisoning. They are also known as Eurasian vultures, since they can be found from Spain to the central Middle East and East China. cinereous vultures can grow to be anywhere from 39 to 43 inches tall. Males usually weigh from 15 to 26 pounds, and females are anywhere from 16 to 28 pounds.