Antara News, Wednesday, February 3, 2010 15:20 WIB
Bogor (ANTARA News) - Indonesia`s Cisarua Safari Garden (TSI) in its capacity as an "ex-situ" conservation has handed a Sumatran tiger cub (panthera tigris sumatrae) to Vice President Boediono.
"The five-week old tiger cub was handed to the vice president at a function to launch National Natural Conservation Day at the Vice Presidential Palace on January 22, 2010," TSI spokesman Yulius H Suprihardo said in Cisarua, Bogor, on Wednesday.
He said the tiger cub was handed to Vice President Boediono by Jansen Manansang, who is concurrently the president of Southeast Asian Zoos Association.
Jansen Manansang presented the tiger cub to the vice president who then passed it on to Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan for conservation and preservation effort.
According to Yulius Suprihardo, the vice president on the occasion named the tiger cub after "Wira" as the offspring of endangered Sumatran tiger in the past several years.
Yulius said the conservation and preservation effort was of great importance because Sumatran tigers at present were at the brink of extinction, or less than 400 in number.
While two other kinds of Indonesian tiger namely Balinese tigers (panthera tigris balica) became extinct in 1935 and Javanese tigers (panthera tigris sondaica) have since 1970 been no longer in existence.
Since Sumatran tigers are at the brink of extinction, Yulius called for public awareness of the preservation of Indonesia`s typical endemic animals.
It is in this relation that Yulius said Cisarua Safari Garden would make every effort to provide its visitors with the knowledge and introduction of endangered animals especially tigers.
According to Yulius, introduction of tigers to TSI visitors during Chinese Lunar New Year holiday season would be made with the involvement of several tiger keepers.
"Thus since January 17 up to the peak event of the Chinese Lunar New Year on February 14, 2010, the tiger keepers will give TSI visitors interesting and important information about tigers ranging from their habitat, their kinds, and the cause of extinction," Yulius said.
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