Kid Territory: Critters: One Wild Tiger
A mother tiger must be alert at all times to protect her cubs.
Mek proved to be a great first-time mom. Here, she is pictured
with one of her cubs, Mata.
When they were young, Mek's cubs (Rimba is shown here) liked
to use her as their personal playground. The tolerant Mek didn't
mind at all.
Can you tell who's who now? With her cubs now as large as
she, only a keeper knows for sure! Mek is on the left, her
son Rimba in the middle, and her other son, Mata, is on the right.
San Diego Zoo name: Mek
Degong
Species: Malayan tiger
Location: San
Diego Zoo's Tiger River
Her story
Mek Degong, whose name means “mother who has traveled a long distance,” definitely lives up to her name. She is one of the female Malayan tigers at the San Diego Zoo and is the mother of the two cubs born June 4, 2005. She has traveled a long distance and has also come a long way, thanks to her keepers, in her trust of human beings.
A dangerous land
Mek, as her keepers call her, is one of the few animals here at the San Diego Zoo that came from the wild. Bringing an animal from the wild is not common practice for present-day zoos and usually only happens in extreme situations, such as when an animal is orphaned. However, Mek's story is a little different. More and more, humans are moving into tiger habitat in Southeast Asia and many tigers are dying because their prey is disappearing from the habitat as well. This is probably what was happening to Mek, because she entered a village in Malaysia and attacked a person. Humans are not normally prey for tigers; they much prefer small mammals or livestock. But, if those animals can't be found, sometimes a tiger's only option is prey of the two-legged variety. Since hungry tigers like Mek are often shot and killed after encounters with humans, it was a great thing that authorities in Malaysia tranquilized Mek instead of killing her and brought her to a zoo.
Tiger training
The San Diego Zoo got Mek from the Melaka Zoo in Malaysia in 2004 when she was about four years old. She is the only tiger at our Zoo that was not raised in a zoo. So, she is understandably more cautious of new situations than our other five tigers. For example, Bridget, one of our tiger keepers, does training sessions with all of the tigers each day. She has trained the tigers to open their mouth on command so she can check their teeth, sit, lie down, and more. Perhaps the most amazing behavior Bridget has trained is a voluntary blood draw from the tigers' tails. She asks the tigers to go into a small enclosure so she can get closer to their tail and then asks them to stick their tail through the bars. She draws blood and gives them a meat reward for being calm.
All the tigers willingly do this behavior except for Mek. She does all the other behaviors very well and is an extremely intelligent cat, but she is not yet comfortable with being inside the small enclosure for the blood draw. Bridget thinks that Mek remembers the traumatic experience of being captured in the wild and is wary of small spaces.
Momma Mek
Mek's keepers believe that the two cubs born at the San Diego Zoo were her first litter. They were uncertain but hopeful that she would be a good mother, and she didn't disappoint them. Mek was an excellent mother, giving her undivided attention to the cubs when they were young and needed frequent nursing and grooming. As they grew, she taught them how to hunt and soon became their favorite "prey" to pounce upon. For a time it was common to see the cubs chewing on their mom's ear, attacking her tail, and rolling all over patient Mek.
She smells so good!
To stimulate the tiger's natural hunting instincts, the keepers place enrichment items in their exhibit. Tigers often use their sense of smell while hunting, so the keepers spray many different types of scents to keep things interesting. For example, they may hide cinnamon or cloves, spray fox or deer urine, and sometimes even perfume. The scent Mek seems to like best is a type of perfume. She will rub herself repeatedly all over whichever part of her enclosure was sprayed. Keepers say that it's not so bad working around a tiger that smells like perfume!
Where you can see her
You will only be able to visit Mek with her cubs for a limited time. Once her cubs are old enough, they will move to another zoo for breeding. We hope Mek will have more litters of cubs, but if you want to visit Mek and her current cubs, walk down the Tiger River Trail from Monkey Trails. They are on exhibit every day from 9 a.m. to noon.
More
Animal Bytes: Tiger
Job Profiles: Taking Care of Animals
Read animal stories from our keepers and others in our blog section.
