July 28, 2023 • 27 mins
Happy International Tiger Day—also known as Global Tiger Day—on July 29! For this very special episode of Amazing Wildlife, Rick and Marco are joined by Lori Hieber, lead wildlife care specialist for the primate and carnivore team. Lori, who has worked with tigers for 15 years, describes the different subspecies of tigers and their various sizes. In addition, Lori tells us more about the four tigers currently at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and how the team can identify them through their unique markings and personalities.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Hi, I'm Rick Schwartz, Blesis World, Marco wentt.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Welcome to Amazing Wildlife, where we explore unique stories of
wildlife from around the world and uncover fascinating animal facts.
This podcast is a production of iHeart Radios, Ruby Studios
and San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance and international nonprofit conservation
Organization which oversees the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Ooh, Rick, Jula is almost over and that means International
Tiger Day is right around the corner.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
I know, I know, Marco. It's pretty exciting, and I
must admit I am really kind of over the topic
sited about this episode for tigers.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Oh yeah, you're feeling that entergy? Why is that?
Speaker 1 (00:41):
I mean, aside from the obvious fact that tigers are
pretty amazing animals.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Well, honestly, Marco goes back to a childhood love for them.
I truly just love them at my core, I always have. Yes,
of course, Ben trunks are my favorite. But in addition
to that, in all fairness, my very first report I
did in elementary school was about cheetahs. However, it was
soon after that I fell head over heels in love
for tigers.
Speaker 4 (01:05):
I obsessed over tigers for years.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
In fact, I'd go so far as to say they
were my favorite animal until I met and worked with
my first bin trong at the San Diego Zoo.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
And for those of you who don't know.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
A bentrong is a carnivore that lives like an omnivore,
spends time in the trees, has a prehensile tails, found
in the jungles of Southeast Asia. And they're pretty chill,
pretty cool. Oh and by the way, when they mark
their territory, instead of it's smelling like stuff we don't like,
it smells like buttered popcorns.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
So what's not to love?
Speaker 3 (01:32):
We made up to circle back to that report on cheetahs.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Fair enough about that, I had no idea, you were
said to tiger fan friend, I can see why you
love them, honestly. I mean they're so powerful and stunning,
just incredible predators.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Oh yeah, and their colorations, their fire like reddish orange
and those stripes, their stealth in the jungle everything, And
you look at their faces and somehow they're both regal
and adorable all.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
The same time. Alright, I get it. Now.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Clearly the topic of tigers has tapped into that a
new child, that little rick for me, you know, it
really was like Tony the Tiger. Yeah right, I remember
Sir Con in.
Speaker 4 (02:05):
The Jungle Ball My gosh, yes, loves your con.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
But you know that really introduced me to tigers as
a kid. And to be fair, there's a lot more
to tigers than just really really liking them, right.
Speaker 4 (02:15):
I know, I know, but sometimes I just can't help myself.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
It's right, I totally get it. I feel the same
way when it.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
Comes to birds, right, I get that. I get that.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
But like I said, though, International Tiger Day now sometimes
it's called Global Tiger Day. It's July twenty ninth this year,
the day after this episode goes live.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
And as much as you.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
And I and a lot of other people love the tigers,
I mean they really need our help, and international days
of celebration like Tiger Day are so important to help
raise awareness about the challenges tiger's face in the wild.
Speaker 4 (02:49):
On a good point, Marco, A very good point.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
And sometimes the best way to raise awareness is to
have people learn more about tigers in general. For instance,
our wildlife care specialists who take care of the tigers
know so much and not just about the species they
take care of but about the individual tigers as well.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
I think I see where you're going with this friend,
and lucky for us, I just happen to know a
wildlife care specialist at the Safari Park who takes care
of tigers at Tiger Trail.
Speaker 4 (03:16):
Perfect.
Speaker 5 (03:20):
I am Lori Heber. I am a lead wildlife care
specialist for the primate carnivore team. I help with both
the primate and the carnivor side. My focus tends to
be a little bit more on the carnivore side of things,
the large cats.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
Speaking of large cats, that's what we want to talk
to you about.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Exactly right.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Is World Tiger Day coming up, and we are currently
sitting in fact, our audience might even hear some noise
in the background.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
We're sitting in the long House, which is the public viewing.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Area of the tigers at Tiger Trails at the Safari Park. Louri,
how long have you worked with tigers?
Speaker 5 (03:53):
This year it's going to be fifteen years for Mears.
Speaker 6 (03:56):
Fifteen years. Yeah, I feel pretty fortunate.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
That's great.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Did he start off in working in wildlife care or
did he start in a different department out of curiosity
because everyone has a different origin storys aular way.
Speaker 5 (04:08):
So I actually got my start at San Diego. I'm
working in the guest relations department, so selling memberships to
folks and dealing with guests concerns, things of that nature.
And then from there I started getting some loans in
wildlife care, so I worked with primates down at the
zoo for about six months.
Speaker 6 (04:26):
I was fortunate enough to work here with our.
Speaker 5 (04:28):
Condors for about six months and then eventually got my
permanent position here with the large cats.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
And just to put in perspective what alone means in
our organization, many moons ago, when you worked in one department,
you could be loaned out to another department to gain
experience within what the organization does. And that's a really
great opportunity for so many people like yourself, LORI, to
have been able to now transition and fifteen years later,
still working with wildlife like you are exactly.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Yeah, definitely, and you know the variety teen the experiences.
Prior to starting the interview, we're all just talking at
our background exposures of different species.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
I had no idea you worked with calunders.
Speaker 4 (05:02):
That's amazing I did.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
Yeah, And I know you and I worked together in
our Australia habits had right you were working with the
tree kangaroo. I know from just knowing you for so
long that tigers are really specially your heart, right, they.
Speaker 5 (05:14):
Are, absolutely, And I mean it's been so kind of
illuminating and educational to work with so many different taxa
and I feel so fortunate to have had that experience here.
It's given me a lot of insight into different species
and how differently they function and what interacting with them
is like how much that can vary from one type
of animal to another. So yeah, it's been a long
(05:34):
interesting road, but absolutely I'm so excited to be here
still working with the cats.
Speaker 6 (05:38):
I love them.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
What is it about the tigers that puts some of
that spot in your heart? Where, Yes, you've worked with
a wide variety of species, some amazing, some critically endangered,
not that these tigers aren't endangered.
Speaker 4 (05:50):
As well, But what is it about the tiger that
has your heart?
Speaker 5 (05:53):
I mean, I think at first glance, just their absolute beauty.
You know, after fifteen years of seeing them practically every day,
I'll still find myself of just looking at them and
at how stunning they are. And I think that's why
a lot of people are so sort of entranced by them,
just kind of their primal nature, the fact that in
many respects, I mean, obviously tigers are in no way
a pet, but in many.
Speaker 6 (06:13):
Respects, a cat is a cat is a cat, you know.
Speaker 5 (06:16):
So we all have that kind of personal experience with
cats in our own lives and that we have at home,
and it's just kind of on inspiring to look at
the tigers or the lions and to see so many
commonalities in their behaviors. And I think having that insight
that we have just from our interactions with our domestic
cats gives us an ability to sort of read tiger
behavior maybe on a different level than some of the
(06:38):
other taxa that are a little bit more foreign to us.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
I want to touch on real quick. I think you
bring up a really good point where a lot of
times that I know, just working with cats myself and
my history, people look at them and go, oh, it's
just like my cat at home, And I'll always say, no, no, no,
your cat at home is a smaller version of this cat.
Speaker 4 (06:54):
This is not a bigger version of your domestic case.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Car true, because the house cat can obviously, if it
is outside, it can cause a lot of damage. They're
very efficient predators and they can become fairal very easily,
meaning they can survive on their own. So I always
like to point out to people that something like a
tiger is not just a big version of your house cat.
Your house cat is a smaller version of very effective predators.
Speaker 6 (07:14):
Exactly, exactly, that's very true.
Speaker 5 (07:16):
Yeah, And even that, you know, it's interesting to see
when you go home and see your cat at home,
to see those little glimmers, you know, their wild origin.
Speaker 6 (07:24):
You know, it's really neat the.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
Tiger within so to speak.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Right, Yeah, you know we're talking domestics versus the tiger
of the line, but even within tiger family, they vary
in size, right, Could you talk a little bit about
the variation in the sizes for the different tigers out there.
Speaker 6 (07:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (07:38):
Yeah, So there are a few tiger subspecies, actually there
used to be eight, and they come from various parts
of the world. So the tigers that we have here
at the Safari Park are Sumatrin tigers and they are
the only subspecies of tiger left that comes from an island.
So that makes them the smallest of the tigers that
are out there. Because generally when you're from an island,
you're quite a bit smaller, so do my Our guy
(07:59):
behind us is about two hundred and fifty pounds. But
then you compare them to the largest type of tiger,
those are the Amoor tigers, previously referred to as Siberian tigers,
so some folks might be familiar with that name, but
they're from a very different climate, so as opposed to
a tropical climate with a lot of foliage, they're from
kind of the Russian far East where it's a very different,
you know, landscape, and consequently they grow to be quite
(08:22):
a bit larger. So those males can you know, certainly
hit I believe five hundred even tales of six hundred
pounds if not larger. And so it's just kind of
fascinating that tigers are certainly the biggest of the big cats,
but the average lion tends to be bigger than the
average tiger just because of how much variety there is
within the tiger subspecies.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
Yeah, it's the adaptability of it too, And you think
of all these communities see that live alongside tiger species,
as you mentioned the Siberia.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
Now, the Amoral tiger.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Is the largest of all the cats out in the world,
but there's communities that live side by side with these
animals in Asia, India, Simatra as an example, and it
speaks to the work that we do here to help
out with communities out there, wouldn't you say?
Speaker 6 (09:00):
Absolutely?
Speaker 5 (09:01):
And that's a challenge, is tigers and humans learning how
to kind of cohabitate and live in the same landscape.
And that's certainly some of the work that we've been
involved in and have helped with is helping those communities
establish safe boundaries in a sense, not only for themselves,
but for their livestock, for their livelihoods, so that they
can cohabitate peacefully and share the same space the same region.
Speaker 6 (09:21):
Of the world.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
You exactly.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
It's a similar conversation right right, going on in all
aspects of the world.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
I think about like the wolf here in the.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
United States, right, Yes, we were just talking about the
Uasu lions in Africa. Now with tiger's here, one of
the main things we got to work on really it's
just that human to wildlife coexistence.
Speaker 5 (09:37):
Absolutely right, exactly, yeah, yeah, And in the tiger world,
we refer to it as tiger human conflict and depending
on the subspecies, absolutely that can be the biggest challenge
for them to overcome to be able to maintain their population.
Speaker 6 (09:49):
So it's an important topic for sure.
Speaker 4 (09:51):
Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
The other part of the human tiger connection, going from
the tiger human conflict in the wild is also so
how our culture, especially here, I think, well, I mean
it might be international, but I grew up in the US.
So the US culture where the tigers this revered strong animal.
You know, the gas stations you just have put a
tiger in your tank, and you know, you have the
(10:14):
Sumatrian coffee with.
Speaker 4 (10:15):
The tiger on it.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
There's so many places you can look that the tiger
is set up as this powerful, respectable species, which it
absolutely should be. But also Marko and I were talking
beforehand how people when they come to the zoo safari park,
they have their top five they want to see it,
and tiger's always on the list. You know, it's bear,
it's lyon, it's elephant, rhino, but Tiger's in there always.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
And I think because the way we.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
See them in marketing and advertising, there is this preconceived
idea about them, whether it's how they move or the
noises they make or things like that. What are some
of the things you Having worked with tigers for a
long time, you interact with the public as well, What
are some of the common maybe misnomer's mistakes or mythology
you hear knowing what you know about tigers versus also
(11:00):
interacting with our guests.
Speaker 5 (11:02):
I think a lot of our guests expect tigers to
portray that kind of ferocious side of themselves, because you
said that's often what people kind of connotate with tigers,
is that ferocity, that intensity, that aggression sometimes, which is
certainly a facet of a tiger personality, you know, as
in any of our personalities. Really, so I think people
are most surprised when they come to the park and
(11:24):
often see how relaxed the tigers are, how calm they
are in the presence of other people. If folks are
able to see tiger interact with wildlife care specialists, they
see how positive and affiliative that interaction can be, how
much we focus on positive reinforcement and building a really
great relationship with the tigers to be able to take
(11:44):
better care of them. I would say that's kind of
the biggest disparity in what people expect when they're coming
in versus what they actually see when they're here.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
Yeah, even growing up myself. I mean, I love Kung
Fu movies, you know, the one that had the style
of the tiger.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
I was always into that one in the Eagle of course,
you know, but it's that same idea, you know. I
was walking prior to us and doing the interview and
one of the tigers just enjoying a little nap by
the waterfall, and everyone's having a beautiful moment.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
Now.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
It made me think, like, you know, be fair to
say that these guys have their own personalities too, right,
Can you talk a little bit about the tigers that
the guest would experience here at the Safari Park at
Tiger Trail, Yes, absolutely so.
Speaker 5 (12:20):
We currently have four Sumatrin tigers here at the Safari Park,
all very different from one another. Absolutely, all demonstrate kind
of a certain personality in a sense. We have Diana,
who is one of our females. She is surprisingly kind
of the least reactive, the least maybe impressed with people.
She is the most content in her own environment, even
(12:42):
when we have folks down inside in the house, in
our bedrooms, she tends to be the least reactive and
in a sense is the most confident that way, which
is a fun element of her personality. We have Majel,
who is the oldest tiger that we have now and
she was actually born here at the Safari Park, so
she's been around for a while and has seen some
other friends kind of come and go, and because of that,
(13:02):
she has the longest history with us here. She has
the longest history with her care specialists. We've had the
most time to work with her, so she has kind
of the biggest.
Speaker 6 (13:11):
Behavioral repertoire of the cats, and.
Speaker 5 (13:14):
She is the easiest to provide enrichment and toys foreign
things because we've had a very long time to develop
that trust. So we know that we can trust her
with certain things that she's not going to get herself
into trouble with. For example, some of the things we
give inside might be scented paper, cardboard, things like that.
Majel can have all that stuff and does great with it.
So she's a lot of fun to provide for in
that way. And then we have Gillian, who is our
(13:36):
third female here at the park. She came to us
from San Francisco, and of the three girls, I would
say she's kind of the most sensitive to her environment.
So we take that into consideration as we're kind of
planning her day, her week, her month, kind of strategizing.
So she was the one that you saw lounging in
the stream. We were actually spying on her from We
have a great camera system where we can watch from
(13:58):
just in our office as we're having our lunch. We
can see what all the cats are doing watching her
sit in the pool up top. So she's definitely enjoying
her water features today, and I think she enjoys being
down there where she can be just a little bit
further away from the rest of the house, a little
bit further removed from the longhouse and have her own space. Lastly,
we have Dumai, who is our only male currently here
(14:19):
at the Safari Park. He's certainly very friendly, very kind
of gregarious, very eager to interact with people, which is
kind of a unique feature of him. So we enjoy
that a lot about him. We're still getting to know
him in some respects, and he came to us as
a breeding male, so we're relying on him for that
as well.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
I think it's cool that you were able to describe
all four of them so uniquely, and I know for
a fact. Some people might be surprised to hear that
animals within a species have their own unique personalities. And
I always like to point out to people it's kind
of like, you know, if you had four kids in
the same family, every parent knows your kids have unique,
(14:59):
distinct personalities. They're all related, they all came from the
same parents, but they have their own personalities. And I
think that's a really good way to kind of point
out to people that, yeah, we could have x amount
of individuals from a species, but they're all going to
have their own personalities and sadly right, Yeah, I appreciate
that you were able to describe that so well.
Speaker 5 (15:17):
Yeah, And to that point, I would say, the forecats
that we have have come from different backgrounds, different facilities.
Like I said, Majel was the only one of the
four who was born here. But when we've had litters,
we see the same phenomenon as you said, brothers and sisters,
absolutely very very different personalities within the same litter. And
those are cats. Obviously, you know, the nature nurture components
are identical, but their personalities can be night and day
(15:39):
from one another. So it's a lot of fun to
get to know them all as individuals and then kind
of customize our care to help sort of optimize, you know,
what we're doing for them. So it's a fun part
of the gig for sure.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
You who talked about litters and we were talking about
individual personalities. I know, someone walking through here could probably
see three to four tigers.
Speaker 4 (15:59):
And not be able to tell them.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
In a litter of tigers or a group like you're
taking care of, now, how can you tell them apart?
Speaker 5 (16:06):
Well, tigers are easier than a lot of the species
out there because of their stripe pattern, of course, and
each stripe pattern is unique to each individual, so we
all get to identify certain markings that stand out to
us when we're looking at any cat, and you know,
with the litter, same thing. One of the first things
that we'll do is go in study them, study their faces.
They're different markings on maybe the top of their head
(16:27):
or above their eye, or on their tail or on
their side and figure out, Okay, that's the thing that
I'm going to notice about this one individual to make.
Speaker 6 (16:33):
Sure I'm looking at the right one.
Speaker 5 (16:35):
And so tigers are pretty unique that way, and it's
one of those things that even now after working with
a cat for a long time. We have an amazing
group of photographers who catch great images of our cats
from time to time, and we'll post them on Facebook
and they'll point out certain features or certain little designs
that we hadn't seen.
Speaker 6 (16:52):
One of the fun ones was Diana.
Speaker 5 (16:54):
Someone pointed out that she has what looks like a
little goldfish under her right eye.
Speaker 6 (16:58):
I believe, and once you see it, you can't stop
seeing it.
Speaker 5 (17:01):
But it's so funny that I've been looking at her
for this long, looking at all the different little flames, stripes, patterns,
and had never noticed that. And so it's kind of
like looking at a cloud that the longer you look
at it you can start to see different different features
in different designs, so it doesn't get boring.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Yeah, yeah, and that's really cool, and that's something I
encourage people if they're especially our members, coming back to
this faripark more than once. If you're going to be
by the tigers and hanging out, you see, if you
can start to recognize the different patterns the stripes offer up.
And it's the same for most species with stripes for spots,
they are unique to that individual. So once your mind
can start seeing those unique aspects of that pattern.
Speaker 4 (17:37):
It allows you to identify them. So it's really cool.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
Yeah, yeah, it just inspire so much, pass it and
enjoy when I see guests come to Tiger Trail. I
mean earlier, I was actually walking around watching guests admire
the tigers here, and I started actually asking a.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
Children in the area.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
You know, I'm not to speak with one of our
tiger specialists, like what would you ask our specialists if
you have the opportunity, And I had a really fun
one that I wanted to throw out to you. L
Let's see, it was like favorite tiger vocals because we
were just talking about that. Yeah, right, tigers they do
more than just the roar, right that everyone talks about.
Can you talk a little bit about that?
Speaker 5 (18:09):
Yeah, yeah, Tigers actually have kind of a broad repertoire
of vocalizations and they can express a lot of different
emotions through them, for sure. So people think of the roar,
which can be associated either with aggression or sometimes just
sort of territoriality, and we'll hear that from time to time.
We also hear a kind of a long call which
sounds a bit like a roar, but you can sort
(18:29):
of tell by its nature that it's not necessarily aggressive,
but it travels a great distance, and we usually associate
that with a territoriality as well. Interestingly, we know that
if it goes on for an extended period, that's usually
one of our telltale signs that one of our females
is in estrius and might be ready for breeding, and
sometimes the male will then reciprocate, So that's very informative
(18:50):
for us as the care specialist. Is something that we
pay attention to. But then some of the other vocalizations
that they have. My favorite if you ask what was
called a cheff or depending on where you are, some
folks might refer to it as a pruston sound preston
p r U s t e N.
Speaker 6 (19:04):
But the chuff is my.
Speaker 5 (19:05):
Favorite sound because it's kind of a friendly greeting and
it means that the cat is happy and happy to
see you. So sometimes a cat will do that in
response to us. Sometimes when we have cats that like
one another, or cubs greeting a mom or vice versa,
they'll do that in response to one another, or a
male and female when they're coming together to howdy, which
means they have just mesh between them. They'll chuff at
one another, so we can kind of get a sense
(19:27):
of what the vibe is for the day.
Speaker 6 (19:28):
So that's my favorite for sure.
Speaker 5 (19:30):
And then in addition to that, they have other little
sounds that they'll throw in that kind of sometimes sound
like little yowls or even little chirps and things like that,
so they mix it up a little bit and it's
a lot of fun and again, very individualistic. Very often
when we hear a cat vocalizing in the house, we
can tell who it is based on the sounds that
they're making in their own voice.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Again, just like a parent can hear their kid make
a certain noise in the room, they know exactly which child.
Speaker 4 (19:55):
Get what exactly?
Speaker 3 (19:56):
Yeah, version of mom mom Mi.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
I love it, you guys, It's just like aspect to you.
I was just having this conversation earlier. All wildlife communicates.
We just have to learn how to listen, right. You
definitely know how to do just sound. So that's really
wonderful of that. That's sorry, I really appreciate that schuffing sound.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
That's great.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
It is. And just in case our guests aren't aware
of what this sound is, actually have it writy on
my phone. I'm going to put it up to the
the MinC here Laurie and let's see if the guests
can hear a chuffing sound of a tiger.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
I mean that sounds like a happy tiger.
Speaker 6 (20:27):
Happy tiger.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
I can hear that in the headset really well. So
if you could describe, does that come from the throat
or is that more in the nasal and mouth area.
Speaker 6 (20:37):
It's towards the nasal mouth area.
Speaker 5 (20:38):
Yeah, they're kind of just like blowing air as they
make that tiny little vocalization, so it's mostly in their
nose and mouth.
Speaker 6 (20:44):
I would say, speaking of.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
All the different sounds that the tigers may a lot
of people's cats at home.
Speaker 4 (20:49):
They know they pur do tigers per Tigers.
Speaker 6 (20:52):
Do not per.
Speaker 5 (20:53):
So tigers are in the larger classification of cats, so
they're in the Pantherra family as opposed to the felis family.
So the Panthera family is referred to as cats that roar,
whereas the felis or the cats.
Speaker 6 (21:05):
That can per. And then right in the middle there
are the weirdos.
Speaker 5 (21:09):
The cheetahs, the asmotic screen bodies that have their own
little special classification and they can kind of do both.
Speaker 6 (21:15):
But Yeah, the tigers don't purr.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Laurie. You've done such a great job helping us understand
the perspective of tigers from your side of it, and
I think our audience, you know, people love tigers anyways,
You're just making them fall in.
Speaker 4 (21:25):
Love with them that much more.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
This episode is obviously coming out near and around International
Tiger Day are also known as Global Tiger Day, which
is to raise awareness for what's going on with tigers
in the wild as well. What are some of the
great conservation facts you could share about tigers with our audience.
Speaker 5 (21:41):
Yeah, So, tigers, as much as we all love them,
unfortunately they are endangered. And this subspecies that we have here,
the sumatrans, are unfortunately critically endangered. There's believed to be
less than five hundred of them currently in Sumatras. There's
roughly around that same amount in human care throughout the world.
So one of the obvious things that we do here
at the Safari Park to help support the population is
(22:03):
to participate in the Species Survival Plan or SSP. Those
are the folks that know the population so well. They
know the genetics of every individual and they make their
breeding recommendations based on achieving and maintaining the highest degree
of genetic diversity within the population as possible. So that's
kind of the first and foremost thing that we do
here as being part of that breeding program. And of course,
(22:25):
you know, all the cats that we have here are
also ambassadors for their counterparts in the wild. And so
when folks come here and are, you know, sort of
taken aback, as we all are when we see how
magnificent they are. One of the best things you can
do for Sumatrin tigers is to just be conscious of
what it is that you're purchasing, because for Sumatrins in particular,
one of the things that's most challenging for them is
habitat fragmentation, and on the island of Sumatra, a lot
(22:48):
of that is caused by palm oil plantations. There's a
lot of products out there that contain palm oil. So
the most that we can do to either avoid that
or use products that utilize sustainable palm oil. It helps
to preserve their habitats in the wild and keep the
fragmentation from happening so that they can find one another
and achieve their own genetic diversity on the island.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
Yeah, it's a very good point, Laurie too, because you know,
the tigers represent our Asiatic or Asian rainforest hub, and
there's a variety of different species, and the tiger is
one of our keystone species.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
I mean, we all know, but helping out a tiger,
you're going to help out so many other species.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
I mean, we have the list like at the Asiatic
black bear, you guys, I'm a bird guy, the milky stork,
the rhinoceros pornbill your.
Speaker 3 (23:26):
Favorite, the venture on ser all benefiting the communities.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
See the live side by side of these vibrant rainforests
or Siberian habitats.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
You know, it just speaks the importance of what we do.
So much. SIMS is for taking this time. I love you,
and this has been great, so I really appreciate it
so much.
Speaker 6 (23:44):
Fun, Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
As always, when talking to our wildlife care specialists, it's
great to hear Laurie's passion for her work come through
as she shared her knowledge and love of tigers with us.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
Oh yeah, I know, it's a mean amigo.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
I mean, I really appreciate Laurie's sharing of this that
important work with THESP or the Species Survival Plan and
how we really need to be thoughtful when we buy
things with palm oil as an ingredient.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
Oh so true, Marco, and I want our listeners to
know and really understand that being a conscientious consumer can
and does make a difference. Palm Oil can show up
in many different things, from food items to lotions and
healthcare products. We want to encourage people to look at
labels and support brands that use sustainable palm oil.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
Ah.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
Yeah, that is an excellent point, Rick, and I think
now would be a good time to also bring up
another challenge tiger's face, and that's wildlife trafficking. I know
that that can seem like an odd term to some people,
but it's worth understanding and talking about so we can
help tigers and other wildlife too.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
Ah. Yes, great point, Marco. Not always a fun topic
to discuss, but it is a topic everyone needs to.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
Be aware of. Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
I mean for any of our listeners that aren't sure
what wildlife trafficking is. Essentially, it is the illegal buying, selling, trading,
or poaching of wild life, parts of wildlife, or products
with ingredients that come from protected wildlife. And although science
has proven that there is no medical value in ground
(25:10):
up tiger bone, as an example, or other body parts.
Wildlife trafficking is still a multi million dollar industry.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
And that's exactly why days like International Tiger Dare are
so important. We can use days like this to collectively
raise awareness and markle. You pointed out that there is
no medicinal or medical value in tiger parts. It's also
worth reminding people sometimes trinkets like keychains, necklaces, belt buckles,
or other items with animal fur, teeth or claws or
(25:38):
other parts also contribute to wildlife trafficking.
Speaker 4 (25:41):
It may seem simply to say this, but it bears repeating.
These items teeth, the clause, the fur, et cetera.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
Why they all look much better when left with the
original owner.
Speaker 3 (25:51):
Oh yeah, definitely. By the all good points.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
We can all support tigers by supporting conservation efforts, being
thoughtful in what we buy as consumers, and raise awareness
about wildlife trafficking so we can save tigers and countless
other species in the Asian rainforest.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
Hub Exactly, Marco, I love these international or global days
for animals. It's really a lot of fun to join
up with everyone and raise awareness for wildlife.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
Now, I agree and guess what you are in luck friend? Overly,
I'm all yours and maybe a trunk.
Speaker 4 (26:24):
Huh.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
World Elephant Days coming out.
Speaker 4 (26:27):
Oh that's a ton of fun to me.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
Let's do it.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Be sure to subscribe and tune into our next episode,
in which Marco and I unpack packader me facts and
elaborate on elephant information for World Elephant Day.
Speaker 3 (26:44):
I'm Marcowed and I am Rick Schwartz.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Thanks for listening. For more information about the San Diego
Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park, go to SDZWA
dot org. Amazing Wildlife is a production of iHeartRadio's Ruby Studios.
Our supervising producer sure is Nikia Swinton, and our sound
designer and editor is Sierra Spreen. For more shows from iHeartRadio,
(27:06):
check out the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
listen to your favorite shows.
Hi, I'm Rick Schwartz, Blesis World, Marco wentt.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Welcome to Amazing Wildlife, where we explore unique stories of
wildlife from around the world and uncover fascinating animal facts.
This podcast is a production of iHeart Radios, Ruby Studios
and San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance and international nonprofit conservation
Organization which oversees the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Ooh, Rick, Jula is almost over and that means International
Tiger Day is right around the corner.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
I know, I know, Marco. It's pretty exciting, and I
must admit I am really kind of over the topic
sited about this episode for tigers.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Oh yeah, you're feeling that entergy? Why is that?
Speaker 1 (00:41):
I mean, aside from the obvious fact that tigers are
pretty amazing animals.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Well, honestly, Marco goes back to a childhood love for them.
I truly just love them at my core, I always have. Yes,
of course, Ben trunks are my favorite. But in addition
to that, in all fairness, my very first report I
did in elementary school was about cheetahs. However, it was
soon after that I fell head over heels in love
for tigers.
Speaker 4 (01:05):
I obsessed over tigers for years.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
In fact, I'd go so far as to say they
were my favorite animal until I met and worked with
my first bin trong at the San Diego Zoo.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
And for those of you who don't know.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
A bentrong is a carnivore that lives like an omnivore,
spends time in the trees, has a prehensile tails, found
in the jungles of Southeast Asia. And they're pretty chill,
pretty cool. Oh and by the way, when they mark
their territory, instead of it's smelling like stuff we don't like,
it smells like buttered popcorns.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
So what's not to love?
Speaker 3 (01:32):
We made up to circle back to that report on cheetahs.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Fair enough about that, I had no idea, you were
said to tiger fan friend, I can see why you
love them, honestly. I mean they're so powerful and stunning,
just incredible predators.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Oh yeah, and their colorations, their fire like reddish orange
and those stripes, their stealth in the jungle everything, And
you look at their faces and somehow they're both regal
and adorable all.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
The same time. Alright, I get it. Now.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Clearly the topic of tigers has tapped into that a
new child, that little rick for me, you know, it
really was like Tony the Tiger. Yeah right, I remember
Sir Con in.
Speaker 4 (02:05):
The Jungle Ball My gosh, yes, loves your con.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
But you know that really introduced me to tigers as
a kid. And to be fair, there's a lot more
to tigers than just really really liking them, right.
Speaker 4 (02:15):
I know, I know, but sometimes I just can't help myself.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
It's right, I totally get it. I feel the same
way when it.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
Comes to birds, right, I get that. I get that.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
But like I said, though, International Tiger Day now sometimes
it's called Global Tiger Day. It's July twenty ninth this year,
the day after this episode goes live.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
And as much as you.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
And I and a lot of other people love the tigers,
I mean they really need our help, and international days
of celebration like Tiger Day are so important to help
raise awareness about the challenges tiger's face in the wild.
Speaker 4 (02:49):
On a good point, Marco, A very good point.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
And sometimes the best way to raise awareness is to
have people learn more about tigers in general. For instance,
our wildlife care specialists who take care of the tigers
know so much and not just about the species they
take care of but about the individual tigers as well.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
I think I see where you're going with this friend,
and lucky for us, I just happen to know a
wildlife care specialist at the Safari Park who takes care
of tigers at Tiger Trail.
Speaker 4 (03:16):
Perfect.
Speaker 5 (03:20):
I am Lori Heber. I am a lead wildlife care
specialist for the primate carnivore team. I help with both
the primate and the carnivor side. My focus tends to
be a little bit more on the carnivore side of things,
the large cats.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
Speaking of large cats, that's what we want to talk
to you about.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Exactly right.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Is World Tiger Day coming up, and we are currently
sitting in fact, our audience might even hear some noise
in the background.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
We're sitting in the long House, which is the public viewing.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Area of the tigers at Tiger Trails at the Safari Park. Louri,
how long have you worked with tigers?
Speaker 5 (03:53):
This year it's going to be fifteen years for Mears.
Speaker 6 (03:56):
Fifteen years. Yeah, I feel pretty fortunate.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
That's great.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Did he start off in working in wildlife care or
did he start in a different department out of curiosity
because everyone has a different origin storys aular way.
Speaker 5 (04:08):
So I actually got my start at San Diego. I'm
working in the guest relations department, so selling memberships to
folks and dealing with guests concerns, things of that nature.
And then from there I started getting some loans in
wildlife care, so I worked with primates down at the
zoo for about six months.
Speaker 6 (04:26):
I was fortunate enough to work here with our.
Speaker 5 (04:28):
Condors for about six months and then eventually got my
permanent position here with the large cats.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
And just to put in perspective what alone means in
our organization, many moons ago, when you worked in one department,
you could be loaned out to another department to gain
experience within what the organization does. And that's a really
great opportunity for so many people like yourself, LORI, to
have been able to now transition and fifteen years later,
still working with wildlife like you are exactly.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Yeah, definitely, and you know the variety teen the experiences.
Prior to starting the interview, we're all just talking at
our background exposures of different species.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
I had no idea you worked with calunders.
Speaker 4 (05:02):
That's amazing I did.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
Yeah, And I know you and I worked together in
our Australia habits had right you were working with the
tree kangaroo. I know from just knowing you for so
long that tigers are really specially your heart, right, they.
Speaker 5 (05:14):
Are, absolutely, And I mean it's been so kind of
illuminating and educational to work with so many different taxa
and I feel so fortunate to have had that experience here.
It's given me a lot of insight into different species
and how differently they function and what interacting with them
is like how much that can vary from one type
of animal to another. So yeah, it's been a long
(05:34):
interesting road, but absolutely I'm so excited to be here
still working with the cats.
Speaker 6 (05:38):
I love them.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
What is it about the tigers that puts some of
that spot in your heart? Where, Yes, you've worked with
a wide variety of species, some amazing, some critically endangered,
not that these tigers aren't endangered.
Speaker 4 (05:50):
As well, But what is it about the tiger that
has your heart?
Speaker 5 (05:53):
I mean, I think at first glance, just their absolute beauty.
You know, after fifteen years of seeing them practically every day,
I'll still find myself of just looking at them and
at how stunning they are. And I think that's why
a lot of people are so sort of entranced by them,
just kind of their primal nature, the fact that in
many respects, I mean, obviously tigers are in no way
a pet, but in many.
Speaker 6 (06:13):
Respects, a cat is a cat is a cat, you know.
Speaker 5 (06:16):
So we all have that kind of personal experience with
cats in our own lives and that we have at home,
and it's just kind of on inspiring to look at
the tigers or the lions and to see so many
commonalities in their behaviors. And I think having that insight
that we have just from our interactions with our domestic
cats gives us an ability to sort of read tiger
behavior maybe on a different level than some of the
(06:38):
other taxa that are a little bit more foreign to us.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
I want to touch on real quick. I think you
bring up a really good point where a lot of
times that I know, just working with cats myself and
my history, people look at them and go, oh, it's
just like my cat at home, And I'll always say, no, no, no,
your cat at home is a smaller version of this cat.
Speaker 4 (06:54):
This is not a bigger version of your domestic case.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Car true, because the house cat can obviously, if it
is outside, it can cause a lot of damage. They're
very efficient predators and they can become fairal very easily,
meaning they can survive on their own. So I always
like to point out to people that something like a
tiger is not just a big version of your house cat.
Your house cat is a smaller version of very effective predators.
Speaker 6 (07:14):
Exactly, exactly, that's very true.
Speaker 5 (07:16):
Yeah, And even that, you know, it's interesting to see
when you go home and see your cat at home,
to see those little glimmers, you know, their wild origin.
Speaker 6 (07:24):
You know, it's really neat the.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
Tiger within so to speak.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Right, Yeah, you know we're talking domestics versus the tiger
of the line, but even within tiger family, they vary
in size, right, Could you talk a little bit about
the variation in the sizes for the different tigers out there.
Speaker 6 (07:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (07:38):
Yeah, So there are a few tiger subspecies, actually there
used to be eight, and they come from various parts
of the world. So the tigers that we have here
at the Safari Park are Sumatrin tigers and they are
the only subspecies of tiger left that comes from an island.
So that makes them the smallest of the tigers that
are out there. Because generally when you're from an island,
you're quite a bit smaller, so do my Our guy
(07:59):
behind us is about two hundred and fifty pounds. But
then you compare them to the largest type of tiger,
those are the Amoor tigers, previously referred to as Siberian tigers,
so some folks might be familiar with that name, but
they're from a very different climate, so as opposed to
a tropical climate with a lot of foliage, they're from
kind of the Russian far East where it's a very different,
you know, landscape, and consequently they grow to be quite
(08:22):
a bit larger. So those males can you know, certainly
hit I believe five hundred even tales of six hundred
pounds if not larger. And so it's just kind of
fascinating that tigers are certainly the biggest of the big cats,
but the average lion tends to be bigger than the
average tiger just because of how much variety there is
within the tiger subspecies.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
Yeah, it's the adaptability of it too, And you think
of all these communities see that live alongside tiger species,
as you mentioned the Siberia.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
Now, the Amoral tiger.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Is the largest of all the cats out in the world,
but there's communities that live side by side with these
animals in Asia, India, Simatra as an example, and it
speaks to the work that we do here to help
out with communities out there, wouldn't you say?
Speaker 6 (09:00):
Absolutely?
Speaker 5 (09:01):
And that's a challenge, is tigers and humans learning how
to kind of cohabitate and live in the same landscape.
And that's certainly some of the work that we've been
involved in and have helped with is helping those communities
establish safe boundaries in a sense, not only for themselves,
but for their livestock, for their livelihoods, so that they
can cohabitate peacefully and share the same space the same region.
Speaker 6 (09:21):
Of the world.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
You exactly.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
It's a similar conversation right right, going on in all
aspects of the world.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
I think about like the wolf here in the.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
United States, right, Yes, we were just talking about the
Uasu lions in Africa. Now with tiger's here, one of
the main things we got to work on really it's
just that human to wildlife coexistence.
Speaker 5 (09:37):
Absolutely right, exactly, yeah, yeah, And in the tiger world,
we refer to it as tiger human conflict and depending
on the subspecies, absolutely that can be the biggest challenge
for them to overcome to be able to maintain their population.
Speaker 6 (09:49):
So it's an important topic for sure.
Speaker 4 (09:51):
Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
The other part of the human tiger connection, going from
the tiger human conflict in the wild is also so
how our culture, especially here, I think, well, I mean
it might be international, but I grew up in the US.
So the US culture where the tigers this revered strong animal.
You know, the gas stations you just have put a
tiger in your tank, and you know, you have the
(10:14):
Sumatrian coffee with.
Speaker 4 (10:15):
The tiger on it.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
There's so many places you can look that the tiger
is set up as this powerful, respectable species, which it
absolutely should be. But also Marko and I were talking
beforehand how people when they come to the zoo safari park,
they have their top five they want to see it,
and tiger's always on the list. You know, it's bear,
it's lyon, it's elephant, rhino, but Tiger's in there always.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
And I think because the way we.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
See them in marketing and advertising, there is this preconceived
idea about them, whether it's how they move or the
noises they make or things like that. What are some
of the things you Having worked with tigers for a
long time, you interact with the public as well, What
are some of the common maybe misnomer's mistakes or mythology
you hear knowing what you know about tigers versus also
(11:00):
interacting with our guests.
Speaker 5 (11:02):
I think a lot of our guests expect tigers to
portray that kind of ferocious side of themselves, because you
said that's often what people kind of connotate with tigers,
is that ferocity, that intensity, that aggression sometimes, which is
certainly a facet of a tiger personality, you know, as
in any of our personalities. Really, so I think people
are most surprised when they come to the park and
(11:24):
often see how relaxed the tigers are, how calm they
are in the presence of other people. If folks are
able to see tiger interact with wildlife care specialists, they
see how positive and affiliative that interaction can be, how
much we focus on positive reinforcement and building a really
great relationship with the tigers to be able to take
(11:44):
better care of them. I would say that's kind of
the biggest disparity in what people expect when they're coming
in versus what they actually see when they're here.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
Yeah, even growing up myself. I mean, I love Kung
Fu movies, you know, the one that had the style
of the tiger.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
I was always into that one in the Eagle of course,
you know, but it's that same idea, you know. I
was walking prior to us and doing the interview and
one of the tigers just enjoying a little nap by
the waterfall, and everyone's having a beautiful moment.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
Now.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
It made me think, like, you know, be fair to
say that these guys have their own personalities too, right,
Can you talk a little bit about the tigers that
the guest would experience here at the Safari Park at
Tiger Trail, Yes, absolutely so.
Speaker 5 (12:20):
We currently have four Sumatrin tigers here at the Safari Park,
all very different from one another. Absolutely, all demonstrate kind
of a certain personality in a sense. We have Diana,
who is one of our females. She is surprisingly kind
of the least reactive, the least maybe impressed with people.
She is the most content in her own environment, even
(12:42):
when we have folks down inside in the house, in
our bedrooms, she tends to be the least reactive and
in a sense is the most confident that way, which
is a fun element of her personality. We have Majel,
who is the oldest tiger that we have now and
she was actually born here at the Safari Park, so
she's been around for a while and has seen some
other friends kind of come and go, and because of that,
(13:02):
she has the longest history with us here. She has
the longest history with her care specialists. We've had the
most time to work with her, so she has kind
of the biggest.
Speaker 6 (13:11):
Behavioral repertoire of the cats, and.
Speaker 5 (13:14):
She is the easiest to provide enrichment and toys foreign
things because we've had a very long time to develop
that trust. So we know that we can trust her
with certain things that she's not going to get herself
into trouble with. For example, some of the things we
give inside might be scented paper, cardboard, things like that.
Majel can have all that stuff and does great with it.
So she's a lot of fun to provide for in
that way. And then we have Gillian, who is our
(13:36):
third female here at the park. She came to us
from San Francisco, and of the three girls, I would
say she's kind of the most sensitive to her environment.
So we take that into consideration as we're kind of
planning her day, her week, her month, kind of strategizing.
So she was the one that you saw lounging in
the stream. We were actually spying on her from We
have a great camera system where we can watch from
(13:58):
just in our office as we're having our lunch. We
can see what all the cats are doing watching her
sit in the pool up top. So she's definitely enjoying
her water features today, and I think she enjoys being
down there where she can be just a little bit
further away from the rest of the house, a little
bit further removed from the longhouse and have her own space. Lastly,
we have Dumai, who is our only male currently here
(14:19):
at the Safari Park. He's certainly very friendly, very kind
of gregarious, very eager to interact with people, which is
kind of a unique feature of him. So we enjoy
that a lot about him. We're still getting to know
him in some respects, and he came to us as
a breeding male, so we're relying on him for that
as well.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
I think it's cool that you were able to describe
all four of them so uniquely, and I know for
a fact. Some people might be surprised to hear that
animals within a species have their own unique personalities. And
I always like to point out to people it's kind
of like, you know, if you had four kids in
the same family, every parent knows your kids have unique,
(14:59):
distinct personalities. They're all related, they all came from the
same parents, but they have their own personalities. And I
think that's a really good way to kind of point
out to people that, yeah, we could have x amount
of individuals from a species, but they're all going to
have their own personalities and sadly right, Yeah, I appreciate
that you were able to describe that so well.
Speaker 5 (15:17):
Yeah, And to that point, I would say, the forecats
that we have have come from different backgrounds, different facilities.
Like I said, Majel was the only one of the
four who was born here. But when we've had litters,
we see the same phenomenon as you said, brothers and sisters,
absolutely very very different personalities within the same litter. And
those are cats. Obviously, you know, the nature nurture components
are identical, but their personalities can be night and day
(15:39):
from one another. So it's a lot of fun to
get to know them all as individuals and then kind
of customize our care to help sort of optimize, you know,
what we're doing for them. So it's a fun part
of the gig for sure.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
You who talked about litters and we were talking about
individual personalities. I know, someone walking through here could probably
see three to four tigers.
Speaker 4 (15:59):
And not be able to tell them.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
In a litter of tigers or a group like you're
taking care of, now, how can you tell them apart?
Speaker 5 (16:06):
Well, tigers are easier than a lot of the species
out there because of their stripe pattern, of course, and
each stripe pattern is unique to each individual, so we
all get to identify certain markings that stand out to
us when we're looking at any cat, and you know,
with the litter, same thing. One of the first things
that we'll do is go in study them, study their faces.
They're different markings on maybe the top of their head
(16:27):
or above their eye, or on their tail or on
their side and figure out, Okay, that's the thing that
I'm going to notice about this one individual to make.
Speaker 6 (16:33):
Sure I'm looking at the right one.
Speaker 5 (16:35):
And so tigers are pretty unique that way, and it's
one of those things that even now after working with
a cat for a long time. We have an amazing
group of photographers who catch great images of our cats
from time to time, and we'll post them on Facebook
and they'll point out certain features or certain little designs
that we hadn't seen.
Speaker 6 (16:52):
One of the fun ones was Diana.
Speaker 5 (16:54):
Someone pointed out that she has what looks like a
little goldfish under her right eye.
Speaker 6 (16:58):
I believe, and once you see it, you can't stop
seeing it.
Speaker 5 (17:01):
But it's so funny that I've been looking at her
for this long, looking at all the different little flames, stripes, patterns,
and had never noticed that. And so it's kind of
like looking at a cloud that the longer you look
at it you can start to see different different features
in different designs, so it doesn't get boring.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Yeah, yeah, and that's really cool, and that's something I
encourage people if they're especially our members, coming back to
this faripark more than once. If you're going to be
by the tigers and hanging out, you see, if you
can start to recognize the different patterns the stripes offer up.
And it's the same for most species with stripes for spots,
they are unique to that individual. So once your mind
can start seeing those unique aspects of that pattern.
Speaker 4 (17:37):
It allows you to identify them. So it's really cool.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
Yeah, yeah, it just inspire so much, pass it and
enjoy when I see guests come to Tiger Trail. I
mean earlier, I was actually walking around watching guests admire
the tigers here, and I started actually asking a.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
Children in the area.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
You know, I'm not to speak with one of our
tiger specialists, like what would you ask our specialists if
you have the opportunity, And I had a really fun
one that I wanted to throw out to you. L
Let's see, it was like favorite tiger vocals because we
were just talking about that. Yeah, right, tigers they do
more than just the roar, right that everyone talks about.
Can you talk a little bit about that?
Speaker 5 (18:09):
Yeah, yeah, Tigers actually have kind of a broad repertoire
of vocalizations and they can express a lot of different
emotions through them, for sure. So people think of the roar,
which can be associated either with aggression or sometimes just
sort of territoriality, and we'll hear that from time to time.
We also hear a kind of a long call which
sounds a bit like a roar, but you can sort
(18:29):
of tell by its nature that it's not necessarily aggressive,
but it travels a great distance, and we usually associate
that with a territoriality as well. Interestingly, we know that
if it goes on for an extended period, that's usually
one of our telltale signs that one of our females
is in estrius and might be ready for breeding, and
sometimes the male will then reciprocate, So that's very informative
(18:50):
for us as the care specialist. Is something that we
pay attention to. But then some of the other vocalizations
that they have. My favorite if you ask what was
called a cheff or depending on where you are, some
folks might refer to it as a pruston sound preston
p r U s t e N.
Speaker 6 (19:04):
But the chuff is my.
Speaker 5 (19:05):
Favorite sound because it's kind of a friendly greeting and
it means that the cat is happy and happy to
see you. So sometimes a cat will do that in
response to us. Sometimes when we have cats that like
one another, or cubs greeting a mom or vice versa,
they'll do that in response to one another, or a
male and female when they're coming together to howdy, which
means they have just mesh between them. They'll chuff at
one another, so we can kind of get a sense
(19:27):
of what the vibe is for the day.
Speaker 6 (19:28):
So that's my favorite for sure.
Speaker 5 (19:30):
And then in addition to that, they have other little
sounds that they'll throw in that kind of sometimes sound
like little yowls or even little chirps and things like that,
so they mix it up a little bit and it's
a lot of fun and again, very individualistic. Very often
when we hear a cat vocalizing in the house, we
can tell who it is based on the sounds that
they're making in their own voice.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Again, just like a parent can hear their kid make
a certain noise in the room, they know exactly which child.
Speaker 4 (19:55):
Get what exactly?
Speaker 3 (19:56):
Yeah, version of mom mom Mi.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
I love it, you guys, It's just like aspect to you.
I was just having this conversation earlier. All wildlife communicates.
We just have to learn how to listen, right. You
definitely know how to do just sound. So that's really
wonderful of that. That's sorry, I really appreciate that schuffing sound.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
That's great.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
It is. And just in case our guests aren't aware
of what this sound is, actually have it writy on
my phone. I'm going to put it up to the
the MinC here Laurie and let's see if the guests
can hear a chuffing sound of a tiger.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
I mean that sounds like a happy tiger.
Speaker 6 (20:27):
Happy tiger.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
I can hear that in the headset really well. So
if you could describe, does that come from the throat
or is that more in the nasal and mouth area.
Speaker 6 (20:37):
It's towards the nasal mouth area.
Speaker 5 (20:38):
Yeah, they're kind of just like blowing air as they
make that tiny little vocalization, so it's mostly in their
nose and mouth.
Speaker 6 (20:44):
I would say, speaking of.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
All the different sounds that the tigers may a lot
of people's cats at home.
Speaker 4 (20:49):
They know they pur do tigers per Tigers.
Speaker 6 (20:52):
Do not per.
Speaker 5 (20:53):
So tigers are in the larger classification of cats, so
they're in the Pantherra family as opposed to the felis family.
So the Panthera family is referred to as cats that roar,
whereas the felis or the cats.
Speaker 6 (21:05):
That can per. And then right in the middle there
are the weirdos.
Speaker 5 (21:09):
The cheetahs, the asmotic screen bodies that have their own
little special classification and they can kind of do both.
Speaker 6 (21:15):
But Yeah, the tigers don't purr.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Laurie. You've done such a great job helping us understand
the perspective of tigers from your side of it, and
I think our audience, you know, people love tigers anyways,
You're just making them fall in.
Speaker 4 (21:25):
Love with them that much more.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
This episode is obviously coming out near and around International
Tiger Day are also known as Global Tiger Day, which
is to raise awareness for what's going on with tigers
in the wild as well. What are some of the
great conservation facts you could share about tigers with our audience.
Speaker 5 (21:41):
Yeah, So, tigers, as much as we all love them,
unfortunately they are endangered. And this subspecies that we have here,
the sumatrans, are unfortunately critically endangered. There's believed to be
less than five hundred of them currently in Sumatras. There's
roughly around that same amount in human care throughout the world.
So one of the obvious things that we do here
at the Safari Park to help support the population is
(22:03):
to participate in the Species Survival Plan or SSP. Those
are the folks that know the population so well. They
know the genetics of every individual and they make their
breeding recommendations based on achieving and maintaining the highest degree
of genetic diversity within the population as possible. So that's
kind of the first and foremost thing that we do
here as being part of that breeding program. And of course,
(22:25):
you know, all the cats that we have here are
also ambassadors for their counterparts in the wild. And so
when folks come here and are, you know, sort of
taken aback, as we all are when we see how
magnificent they are. One of the best things you can
do for Sumatrin tigers is to just be conscious of
what it is that you're purchasing, because for Sumatrins in particular,
one of the things that's most challenging for them is
habitat fragmentation, and on the island of Sumatra, a lot
(22:48):
of that is caused by palm oil plantations. There's a
lot of products out there that contain palm oil. So
the most that we can do to either avoid that
or use products that utilize sustainable palm oil. It helps
to preserve their habitats in the wild and keep the
fragmentation from happening so that they can find one another
and achieve their own genetic diversity on the island.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
Yeah, it's a very good point, Laurie too, because you know,
the tigers represent our Asiatic or Asian rainforest hub, and
there's a variety of different species, and the tiger is
one of our keystone species.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
I mean, we all know, but helping out a tiger,
you're going to help out so many other species.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
I mean, we have the list like at the Asiatic
black bear, you guys, I'm a bird guy, the milky stork,
the rhinoceros pornbill your.
Speaker 3 (23:26):
Favorite, the venture on ser all benefiting the communities.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
See the live side by side of these vibrant rainforests
or Siberian habitats.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
You know, it just speaks the importance of what we do.
So much. SIMS is for taking this time. I love you,
and this has been great, so I really appreciate it
so much.
Speaker 6 (23:44):
Fun, Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
As always, when talking to our wildlife care specialists, it's
great to hear Laurie's passion for her work come through
as she shared her knowledge and love of tigers with us.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
Oh yeah, I know, it's a mean amigo.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
I mean, I really appreciate Laurie's sharing of this that
important work with THESP or the Species Survival Plan and
how we really need to be thoughtful when we buy
things with palm oil as an ingredient.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
Oh so true, Marco, and I want our listeners to
know and really understand that being a conscientious consumer can
and does make a difference. Palm Oil can show up
in many different things, from food items to lotions and
healthcare products. We want to encourage people to look at
labels and support brands that use sustainable palm oil.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
Ah.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
Yeah, that is an excellent point, Rick, and I think
now would be a good time to also bring up
another challenge tiger's face, and that's wildlife trafficking. I know
that that can seem like an odd term to some people,
but it's worth understanding and talking about so we can
help tigers and other wildlife too.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
Ah. Yes, great point, Marco. Not always a fun topic
to discuss, but it is a topic everyone needs to.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
Be aware of. Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
I mean for any of our listeners that aren't sure
what wildlife trafficking is. Essentially, it is the illegal buying, selling, trading,
or poaching of wild life, parts of wildlife, or products
with ingredients that come from protected wildlife. And although science
has proven that there is no medical value in ground
(25:10):
up tiger bone, as an example, or other body parts.
Wildlife trafficking is still a multi million dollar industry.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
And that's exactly why days like International Tiger Dare are
so important. We can use days like this to collectively
raise awareness and markle. You pointed out that there is
no medicinal or medical value in tiger parts. It's also
worth reminding people sometimes trinkets like keychains, necklaces, belt buckles,
or other items with animal fur, teeth or claws or
(25:38):
other parts also contribute to wildlife trafficking.
Speaker 4 (25:41):
It may seem simply to say this, but it bears repeating.
These items teeth, the clause, the fur, et cetera.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
Why they all look much better when left with the
original owner.
Speaker 3 (25:51):
Oh yeah, definitely. By the all good points.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
We can all support tigers by supporting conservation efforts, being
thoughtful in what we buy as consumers, and raise awareness
about wildlife trafficking so we can save tigers and countless
other species in the Asian rainforest.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
Hub Exactly, Marco, I love these international or global days
for animals. It's really a lot of fun to join
up with everyone and raise awareness for wildlife.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
Now, I agree and guess what you are in luck friend? Overly,
I'm all yours and maybe a trunk.
Speaker 4 (26:24):
Huh.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
World Elephant Days coming out.
Speaker 4 (26:27):
Oh that's a ton of fun to me.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
Let's do it.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Be sure to subscribe and tune into our next episode,
in which Marco and I unpack packader me facts and
elaborate on elephant information for World Elephant Day.
Speaker 3 (26:44):
I'm Marcowed and I am Rick Schwartz.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Thanks for listening. For more information about the San Diego
Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park, go to SDZWA
dot org. Amazing Wildlife is a production of iHeartRadio's Ruby Studios.
Our supervising producer sure is Nikia Swinton, and our sound
designer and editor is Sierra Spreen. For more shows from iHeartRadio,
(27:06):
check out the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
listen to your favorite shows.
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