Tiger cubs make their debut at the Topeka Zoo

The new tiger cubs at the Topeka Zoo have officially made their debut.

The cubs got their first glimpse of the outdoors on Friday morning, after being born a little over 5 months ago, and staying inside during the winter.

“The fact that they’re out, and they’re safe, and everything’s going so well….I’m going to go have a big Dr. Pepper at lunch and celebrate,” said Shanna Simpson, Animal Care Supervisor at the zoo.

The cubs – Bintang, Kansas Raja, Zayana, and Badar – are currently out in the exhibit with their mother.

“That’s what they would be doing in the wild now,” said Simpson.  “They would be venturing away from the den with mom now, starting to learn how to hunt and stuff.  We wanted to make sure we mimicked that.”

This is the first time the cubs have been on grass and been outside in the sun, but Simpson says that hasn’t really been an issue.

“The biggest thing that’s been the scariest today is the birds.  The birds have flown over a few times and squawked.  They build nests in here.  The cubs have been ducking and putting their ears back, it’s pretty funny”

Simpson says the cubs are no longer nursing off of their mother, and have moved on to eating meat every day.

Simpson reports that as long as the weather is above forty degrees, and there are no severe storms, they should be out and about every day.

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