"Graceful and Gluttonous": Schönbrunn's New Tigress Sungari in Portrait
Sungari gazes blankly through the red bars. She turns her ears to the side and blinks. Finally, the box with the tigress – at least as conveyed by a video on Facebook – lands in a white vehicle that bumps away over snow-covered ground under a gray sky.
Goodbye Leeuwarden, Hello Vienna Zoo
The footage was posted by the Dutch AquaZoo Leeuwarden, where Sungari's life began in June 2023. Three siblings ensure that she is not an only child there. Once, playing with them ends badly, and her eye is damaged. "However, this does not affect her quality of life at all," reports Rupert Kainradl, Zoological Curator at Schönbrunn Zoo, today.
Leeuwarden is not many kilometers from the North Sea – but much more from Vienna. Sungari experiences this in her second winter. "The coordinator of the European management program for tigers concluded that Vienna is the best place for her," recalls the Dutch zoo, which is busy with preparations. It involves tests and documents, among other things. According to the information, approximately 1,300 kilometers lie ahead of the tigress on February 13, and by February 14, she has already reached her destination.
Insatiable Tigress at the Vienna Zoo
In Vienna, Sungari initially does not take any food, as she is "pre-fed by the colleagues in Leeuwarden," according to Kainradl. Meanwhile, the curator calls her "gluttonous" – but also "powerful," "graceful," and "very calm." The latter is also evident during our visit last Friday. Exactly six weeks have passed since her arrival. The newcomer lies with her head on the ground in Schönbrunn, her paws comfortably stretched to the side - Sungari is just a cat, albeit a very large one.
In the future, the tigress could be surrounded by offspring. "As part of the European Endangered Species Program (EEP), the tigress was selected as a partner for our male," explained the Vienna Zoo on Facebook. It certainly doesn't look bad: Kainradl is "very optimistic" regarding potential offspring.
(BP/Red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.