TIGERS
AT GLASGOW ZOO
by
Richard O'Grady, Director-Secretary
Glasgow
Zoo has maintained tigers almost from its first opening in 1947.
During the early 1960s, we even managed to breed them, at that time
considered no mean achievement. Still vivid in the minds of older
Glaswegians is the death of female Bengal tiger, Sheila
, shot dead by the first Zoo Director, Sydney Benson, after she
left her enclosure and approached a group of Brownies. The gardener,
Alex Innes, who courageously protected the children, was later awarded
the George Medal for his heroic action.
Since
that day in 1949, Sheila has impressed generations of Glaswegians
from the safety of her cage - a glass case at Glasgow's Kelvingrove
Museum - though, in recent years, she has been moved behind the
scenes, probably in preparation for the Wild Tigers of Bandhavgarh
exhibition at the city's Burrell Museum during the year 2000.
In
those days, in common with many - though not all - zoos worldwide,
tigers were frequently housed in very small cages, because these
were reliably secure. Many of them were glorified versions of circus
wagons and, in fact, in some eastern European countries were described
as ' kennels '. Leipzig Zoo, for example, became world-
famous for its regular production of Siberian tigers and I was always
struck by how small all the dens and enclosures were.
Anyway,
be that as it may, I always found it disquieting (at the very least)
to see these magnificent, intelligent and demonstrative creatures
crammed into such diminished surroundings. After Sheba, our last
tiger, died in 1972 we did not replace her, preferring to wait until
we could afford, or find sponsorship for, the type of enclosure
we felt these animals deserved.
For
over ten years Glasgow Zoo was without tigers of any sort, save
the presence of a couple of hand-reared cubs on two occasions, the
last being animals confiscated by the R.S.P.C.A. from a celebrity
hypnotist - a tale in itself for another occasion!
In
the mid 1980s, we were approached by James Lang, the father of one
of our Junior Members, regarding the two tigers at Cromer Zoo, which
was closing down. These tigers and the other animals were featured
on BBC's Nationwide as being in urgent need of ' rescue
', and could he help. Jim Lang's close friend and business
associate was Chief Bola Abimbola of the Adimula family in Nigeria.
To
cut a long story short, the Chief purchased the tigers and presented
them to the Zoo, whilst Jim Lang set about helping with sponsorship
for a new house and enclosure. Initially we had no money at all,
but strenuously resisted all attempts and suggestions that we house
the tigers in any of the old, box-metal, cramped cages which still
existed. Instead, we lodged them at Longleat Safari Park whilst
sponsorship involving over 200 firms and individuals was arranged.
It took some time, but in the end everything was sponsored except
for the four large windows of laminated glass and, with the assistance
of staff employed through the Manpower Services Commission, a very
large and thoughtfully designed house and enclosure came into being.
Standard
husbandry textbooks will provide you with any information you require
about the management of tigers. It's worth remembering that tigers
have been kept and bred in captivity in Britain for about 200 years;
I seem to remember that Agasse painted tiger cubs early in
the 19thC. As far as health and safety is concerned, big cat enclosures
will have a double fence with a big gap between which prevents visitors
from poking their hands through. The weldmesh fence should not be
so big that the tigers can climb it like a ladder.
All
modern tiger welfare requirements were incorporated in building
the den for the tigers. The house possesses underfloor heating,
off-exhibit cubbing dens, windows with different vistas including
over the main enclosure; the enclosure has a pond deep enough to
swim in, climbing and resting facilities, and is heavily planted.
If we were to build a tiger enclosure again today, it is doubtful
if we would change more than a few details.
Since
its opening in 1985 by the Lord Provost of Glasgow, Robert Gray,
J.P., a succession of tigers has occupied this enclosure after
Ben and Sabrina , the tigers from Cromer who started
it all. In 1990 - to participate in the festivities during Glasgow's
year as European City of Culture - white tigers were loaned
to Glasgow Zoo by Lord Bath and the Chipperfield family.
Chandhi , a white female with blue eyes and chocolate stripes,
was an immediate success, and zoo attendances increased by over
40% from July to September.
The
current tigers consist of Ayesha , an Aspinall-bred Bengal
tiger from Howlett's Zoo in Kent. Two female cubs born in November
1998 remain with her while Butu , a six-year-old, intermediate-colour
male of the Columbus Zoo (Ohio), white tiger strain and is not white,
but a gingerish colour
with a white face, chin and belly. In order to maximise the gene
pool, Butu moved to a Spanish zoo in Spring 2000:
Butu and Ayesha bred regularly, but as Ayesha
is homozygous for the normal brown tiger colouration all their
cubs are (as one would expect) also normal in colouration. The cubs
are, however, heterozygous and carry the genes for white as hidden
recessive factors.
Somebody,
somewhere, at some time in the future, could receive a pleasant
surprise (or unpleasant, depending on their outlook) when one or
more white cubs pop up in a litter, if two of Butu and
Ayesha's cubs are either mated together or one happens
to mate with another tiger heterozygous for white. This is not conservation
in the traditional sense, but is absorbing to anyone with an interest
in animal breeding or the propagation of unusual colour varieties,
or who is just fascinated by tigers. The most pre-current litter
of three left in June 1998, for a new, multi-million pound safari
park near Estoril in Spain. As Butu and Ayeesha
were mating again in early August 1998, another litter anticipated
in November 1998 successfully came to term. .
It
goes without saying that as Glasgow now has a first-class tiger
facility, a proven track-record for successfully mother-rearing
tigers, and great keeper expertise and experience with these wonderful
animals, we are ideally placed to take part in a tiger conservation
programme should conservation pressures warrant this and stud-book
registered tigers are made available.
HISTORICAL
FOOTNOTE:
It turns out that tigers have, on and off, been displayed in Glasgow
for a remarkably long time, although prior to the founding of the
Zoo you would have to visit a travelling menagerie or circus to
see one. For example in 1839, when George Wombwell visited the city
for the annual Glasgow Fair, tigers from Bengal and Madras were
included in his menagerie. Considerably earlier than this, conceivably
towards the end of the eighteenth century, Glasgow was the setting
for a tragic incident when a tiger was exhibited. The tiger broke
out from its barred cage and attacked a small monkey, swallowing
the iron collar the monkey was wearing which, a few days later,
caused its demise. >
TIGERS
Update 2000
by
Richard O'Grady
Both cubs are doing well and are nearing adult size.
'Ayesha', the female came into oestrus in February 2000, but
'returned' again in March. This time, her 'season' lasted nearly
five days, accompanied by numerous matings and loud roarings with
'Butu'. Although we are not desperately anxious to breed from
Ayesha again just now, we are assuming she is pregnant, and will make
the necessary preparations in June.
In the meantime, Butu has travelled to Germany and has settled in
with two females, one a white, the other a ginger and white like himself.
All three animals are genetically white.
In the wild, through the centuries two white forms have been recorded;
a white with chocolate stripes and blue eyes, the other a white with
red eyes - not that anyone living today has ever seen such an animal.
Genetically the current form is inherited as an autosomal (i.e., non-sex-linked)
recessive factor. Consequently, both of our young females are heterozygous,
i.e., brown, carrying white as a hidden recessive factor. Their mother
Ayesha, who was bred by John Aspinall at Howlett's Zoopark in Kent,
is homozygous, i.e., pure brown with no hidden white factor. Accordingly,
when mated to a white male like Butu, all the cubs are brown. All
are heterozygous i.e., 'carrying' white.
White tigers in the wild have been recorded on numerous occasions.
Indeed, a white tiger is frequently seen on the walls of ancient tombs
in the Far East, representing one of the elemental forces of nature.
'Mohan', the founder white male of the 200 or so white tigers
in the world today (all in captivity) was captured by the Maharajah
of Rewa in the Bandhavgarh district of India. When Mohan in 1951 was
bred to a brown female all the cubs were brown. The first of these
heterozygous cubs, when mated back to Mohan produced the startling
litter of four white cubs!
The saying, 'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder' is never so more
true than when applied to white tigers. You either like them or loathe
them, regarding them as a waste of captive space which could be better
utilised for one of the endangered sub-species, such as Sumatran or
Siberian tigers. We all have some sympathy with this point of view.
Nevertheless, white tigers and their genetics are fascinating, and
many visitors love them, which is why so many zoos across the world
use them to draw attention to tigers and their plight in the wild.
In the U.K. Bristol Zoo became famous in the 1960s and 70s for its
purebred white tigers of the Indian or Bengal sub-species. In the
80s and 90s, these were joined in the U.K. by animals originating
from the United States, which are described as 'generic'. This is
because they are descended from animals of no definite origin. This
almost certainly and regrettably involved a mixture of sub-species.
These animals were first imported and exhibited at Longleat Safari
Park before, in 1990, three were loaned to us to celebrate Glasgow's
designation as 'European City of Culture. Since then we have been
pleased to note that leading Federation zoos such as Colchester and
Belfast have also exhibited the same strain of these tigers.
As successive generations of white tigers have been produced it is
very interesting to note the dramatic variation in colour. Whites
with chocolate-coloured stripes and blue eyes are the norm. However,
there are many examples where the stripes are almost completely absent,
sometimes just consisting of a few rings on the tail. Simultaneously,
a gingery form has been produced with a white throat, chest, belly,
and down the insides of each leg, of which Butu
is a good example.
There is now available a rare 'bluish' form, almost certainly a cinnamon,
one would guess. Even this has been recorded in the wild. Guggisberg
in his book 'Wild Cats of the World' described such a form being regularly
produced in one district of India where the locals referred to them
as those 'black devils'!
Butu will probably return to Glasgow in the autumn, unless we manage
to obtain an unrelated out-cross from elsewhere.
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