Reka, a rare Amur tiger, is leaving Beardsley Zoo
Reka – a rare Amur tiger who has a heart shape above her right eye – is being transferred as part of a national effort by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums called the Species Survival Plan. The goal is to save endangered species through breeding.
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Oct 18, 2021, 9:50 PM
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Updated 1,101 days ago
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497ds agoConnecticut's
Beardsley Zoo is getting ready to send off a fan favorite whose birth there
made headlines nationwide.
Reka –
a rare Amur tiger who has a heart shape above her right eye – is being
transferred as part of a national effort by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums
called the Species Survival Plan. The goal is to save endangered species
through breeding.
Beardsley
Zoo director Gregg Dancho called it “bittersweet.”
“We
have to say goodbye sometimes for them to go to other facilities, they're AZA-accredited
facilities – so they can have babies of their own. If we don't do that, then
literally this species could become extinct within 10-15 years,” he says.
The
Species Survival Plan is how Reka and her sister Zeya were born in Bridgeport
in 2017. Their births made news across the country after zoo staff hand-raised
the cubs because their mother had no interest in them.
“Their
survivability was at question really from day one, but…Reka is doing so very
well. She's going to be 4 years old on Thanksgiving this year,” says Dancho.
Reka
is now headed to a zoo in the Midwest, where she's been genetically matched
with a mate.
The
same happened to Zeya last year, who lives at Rosemund Gifford Zoo in Syracuse,
New York.
The
zoo where Reka is going will announce her arrival later this fall. Reka and
Zeya's mother, Chang-bai, will remain at Beardsley.
There
are less than 200 Amur tigers in the wild and about 165 in zoos in the country.
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