(FRESNO, Calif.) – Fresno Chaffee Zoo officials are excited to announce the newest addition to the Zoo’s growing team – a mascot!
Taman the tiger is the Zoo’s first official mascot and guests can expect to see him out on Zoo grounds starting this week!
Taman is a male, Malayan tiger named after the Taman Negara (National Park) in Malaysia – the oldest primary rainforest in the world and the largest rainforest in Malaysia.
With less than 500 Malayan tigers left in the world, Fresno Chaffee Zoo is home to almost one percent of the entire Malayan tiger population.
With four Malayan tigers – Mek, mother of the four cubs born in January 2014, Arya and Batari, the female cubs, and Gahara, a new, male tiger – the Zoo hopes to continue playing a significant role in Malayan tiger conservation.
Gahara, 10, comes to Fresno from Tulsa Zoo and although he is not on exhibit just yet, guests can expect to see him in about one month – after the expansion to the tiger exhibit is further along!
The tiger exhibit expansion – the first project after African adventure – will allow the Zoo to have an even larger impact on Malayan tiger conservation.
Berani and Cinta, the male Malayan tiger cubs born in January 2014, are now living at the San Diego Zoo and will hopefully begin their very own breeding programs in the near future.
Malayan tigers, Panthera tigris jacksoni, are only found on the Malay Peninsula and in the southern tip of Thailand. Since there are only approximately 500 Malayan tigers left in the wild, they are considered endangered – the largest threat to the species being habitat loss.
Visit http://www.fresnochaffeezoo.org/ for current hours.
