COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KDVR) — Preserving endangered species can be the most challenging tight-rope walk imaginable, and the officials at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (CMZ) know this more than most after one of the last remaining members of a tiger sub-species passed away last week.
A medical procedure to expand the planet’s dwindling Amur tiger population “looked like a win” last Thursday evening, according to Bob Chastain, president and CEO of CMZ, but things quickly shifted in a deadly direction as Savelii, a 9-year-old female, began to suffer from complications before succumbing to them.
Today, there are 107 Amur tigers in captivity and an estimated 500 out in the wild. To better grasp the brevity of the Amur tigers’ situation, look at last year’s population growth. There were only three litters born in captivity, one of which did not survive. Pair that with the figures of those tigers that died, which totaled 11, and it is easy to see that the population is decreasing rapidly.
In the months leading up to the zoo’s attempt at artificial insemination, zookeepers and animal handlers attempted to get Savelii and a male Amur tiger, Chewy, to breed by natural means. However, tiger mating is a bit of a dangerous occurrence for the females involved, as the male usually utilizes neck biting and other aggressive tactics.
Sadly, the natural process of impregnation failed, and artificial insemination was deemed the route that would best serve the future of the species. The procedure was approved by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and partially funded by a federal grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
CMZ has braced for critical analysis of their decision to go through with the unintentional life-ending medical procedure, which met all the standards set forth by the AZA’s Tiger Species Survival Plan. This is where the debate of inaction versus action has found a foothold.
“As caretakers of endangered and threatened species, we have to walk a fine line between doing the right things for the individual animals in our care, but also making hard decisions for the future of the species,” said Chastain in an open letter to the public.
If these facilities do not attempt to expand this sub-species of endangered tiger, then it will simply cease to exist. So as heart-breaking and detrimental Savelii’s death is to the zoo and animal preservationists around the world, artificial insemination could be the best path to ensuring this species has a future at all.
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo has gone a step further to get the community involved in this global effort by pledging to match $34,000 of donations from the public to the Tiger Conservation.
Visit their website here to join the cause by donating.