TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — A Sumatran tiger at the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma is pregnant and expected to give birth to at least two cubs later this month.
Curator Karen Goodrowe Beck says the zoo is preparing for a 24-hour watch several days before the May 22 due date. She says staffers will be ready to step in if Jaya, a first-time mother, does not care for her cubs.
The father is Bali, who came to Tacoma from the San Francisco Zoo in September. Since then he has been diagnosed with cancer and started chemotherapy in April. Goodrowe Beck says keepers don’t know how long he has left to live.
Sumatran tigers are an endangered species.
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