In the old days when a young tiger’s thoughts turned to love he’d sniff around for a similarly inclined young lady, stalk into her territory, grab her by the neck, and have at it. But all that is so very old school. These days there’s not much left in the way of territory. In fact, there’s not much left in the way of Siberian tigers. A scant 250 roam the wild. So the modern tiger must rely on modern means of meeting a suitable mate. We browse the personals; he consults the “species survival plan,” computer dating service to the world’s captive tigers.
For the past two years Sikhote, a stunningly handsome 344-pound Siberian, has stalked the big-cat habitat on the northeast side of the Kovler Lion House. Perhaps he was content pacing the red stone confines, gazing across the moat, considering the succulent flesh of darling young zoo patrons. Or perhaps he’d gotten to thinking about the weatherproof placard affixed to the public side of his lair. “Why do cats live alone?” it asked. Why indeed. The answer, according to zoo lore, is that the average wild carnivore has a hard time making ends meet. By staking out a promising piece of real estate and posting No Trespassing scat, he could lay sole claim to all the deer and boar he could fell.
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Getting cozy wasn’t always so clinical. In less enlightened times zoos encouraged their captive guests to do the wild thing willy-nilly, keeping their tourist attractions stocked with crowd-pleasing babies. The results were pathetic, inbred, homeless creatures. Hence species survival plans–planned parenthood for the wild at heart.
The first tete-a-tete was scheduled for a more intimate setting, a squeeze cage in the back rooms of the lion house. A squeeze cage is pretty much what it sounds like–cement floor, brick back, three sliding walls of steel mesh. Open it’s about the size of two tigers, flank to flank. Squeezed it’s about the size of one. What with the close quarters and fluorescent lighting and red stickers warning Danger and Hands Off, it can’t be an easy place to make a devastating first impression. But what’s a tiger to do?
That’s pretty much the way things have stood since. During the day the door remains open between his place and hers. But mostly the two stick to their own sides, lazing about the way cats will. A couple times, however, they’ve been spotted lounging in the same cage. “This tells us things are going pretty well,” says Rosenthal. If all continues in such a friendly fashion, the two should make their public debut this week, together, in a single habitat.
