Changbai, a thirteen-year-old Amur tiger and the mother of cubs born at the Zoo in 2017, has returned to Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo!
After arriving from her most recent home at the Columbus Zoo, Changbai underwent a normal quarantine period. Changbai is now residing in the tiger habitat in the predator area, next to her daughter, Reka.
Born on May 24, 2007 at the Philadelphia Zoo, Changbai lived at Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo for two years before being transferred to Columbus as part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ (AZA) Species Survival Plan.
Beardsley Zoo says Amur tigers are very rare and are critically endangered in the wild. According to the AZA, Amur tigers are thought to occupy less than seven percent of their original range.
The tigers are threatened by habitat loss and degradation, poaching, tiger-human conflict and loss of prey. Four of nine subspecies have disappeared from the wild just in the past hundred years. The future of the Amur tiger has been a major concern of the world’s zoos for many years.
“The planned transfer of animals to other member zoos ensures the sustainability of a healthy, genetically diverse, and demographically varied AZA population,” explained Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo’s Deputy Director, Don Goff. “We’re happy to welcome Chang back to the Zoo, where she can continue to be an ambassador for her species, educating our guests about the importance of conservation.”
Goff is also the Co-Chair of the National Felid Taxon Advisory Group (TAG). He leads a committee of AZA-accredited zoo members whose goal is to help have sustainable populations of felid species.
