The New Girl In Town (Malayan Tiger Girl That Is) - San Diego Zoo

The San Diego Zoo recently got a new female Malayan Tiger. There have been several changes at the tigers recently. Christopher, one of the two most recent cubs, who will be 2 years old in April, has moved to Norfolk, Virginia. His mother, Mek, has moved to Fresno. And Christopher's brother Conner - well, he has a new girlfriend.

Her name is Tiga, she's 3 1/2 years old, from the Bronx Zoo. I saw her for the first time this morning. She's only been going out into the exhibit for a few days now, and in speaking with one of the keepers this morning I confirmed what I thought I was seeing yesterday. The other tigers, both Conner and Danai, know that there's a new girl here.

She isn't staying out in the exhibit very long right now, just a few hours it looks like. I got there right when the Zoo opened this morning at 9:00am, and they told me that they planned to bring her in by around 10:00. That wound up being more like 10:45, but that's okay. When they finally did open up the door and get her attention, she was up the hill in a flash. So fast, in fact, that this is all I got.

Conner came out afterwards, I got a few shots of him as well. Sunday is rabbit day, and there is a pretty good shot of Conner with his rabbit in the gallery linked at the end of this blog post. Warning - not for the squeamish.

On my way to the exit I stopped off at the Gharials that are in the pool about halfway down the Tiger Trail.

Click here to see more images from the Sunday, March 3, 2013 at the San Diego Zoo.