Rabat – Morocco’s Rabat National Zoo announced the arrival of two tigers on July 9. The tigers, Nayo and Matchy, are the first tigers to reside in Rabat’s National Zoo.
“With the aim of enriching its offer and diversifying the presented animal collection, the Zoological Garden of Rabat welcomes, for the first time, a species so requested and appreciated by the public, the TIGRE,” said the zoo in an official announcement on Facebook.
Both tigers were born in Morocco to parents from a zoo in France.
As the newest addition to the zoo’s growing list of predatory species, the tigers will live in the zoo’s Savannah biozone for 3 months. Both the Atlas lion and the Savannah dog, two of the zoo’s most deadly predators, are also located in the Savannah biozone.
According to the zoo, “The two tigers can be differentiated by the color of their coat. Nayo, the male, is a redhead black striped color and weighs more than 250 kg, while Matchy, the female, is a white tiger weighing about 200 kg.”
The International Union for Nature Conservation (IUCN) has classified the tigers as an endangered species, primarily due to poaching. “Only about 4000 tigers are currently listed in the wild in the world,” adds the zoo.
Many zoo-goers responded positively to the announcement as the Moroccan public has longed for the opportunity to see the tiger, an animal native only to the regions of India, Serbia, Thailand, and China.
Other critics have argued that the zoo does not need more endangered species. As part of the zoo’s conservation program, the zoo “hosts 22 endangered species in Morocco, 8 species subject to a reintroduction program, among which 5 species are extinct in the Moroccan wilderness.”
Morocco’s Sindibad Park Zoo in Casablanca is the only other animal park in Morocco housing two tigers with similar coats.
