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One of the world's rarest tigers is taking up residence in Cork

Dao is a two-year-old Sumatran tiger, the smallest of all tigers.

DK20241217 FOTA 052 (1) Dao in Fota Wildlife Park. Darragh Kane Darragh Kane

ONE OF THE world’s rarest tigers has arrived in Cork as part of a breeding programme.

Dao is a two-year-old Sumatran tiger, the smallest of all tiger species and which feature a distinctive bearded mane and narrow stripes.

The species was declared critically endangered in 2008. Today, between 300 and 500 individuals remain in the wild on their native Sumatra, an island forming part of Indonesia.

The Journal / YouTube

Dao arrived in Fota Wildlife Park from Zoo Krefeld in Germany as part of a European Endangered species Programme (EEP) for Sumatran tigers. He was specially paired with Fota’s resident female tiger Jambi — who herself arrived in the Zoo from Germany last year — to ensure the genetic diversity of the species.

In a statement, Fota’s lead ranger Julien Fonteneau said Dao arrived in December and is “is settling in really well”.

DK20241217 FOTA 002 (1) Darragh Kane Darragh Kane

 ”We hope they will both play a key part in global tiger conservation. The Sumatran tiger is being driven closer to extinction in the wild due to the destruction of its natural habitat, human-wildlife conflicts, and the deadly illegal trade fuelled by poaching.

“Introducing a new tiger is a highly specialised process that demands expert husbandry. Eventually, Dao and Jambi will be gradually acclimatised to each other in preparation for the breeding programme. The last tiger birth at Fota Wildlife Park was the male Dash, born in the summer of 2019 so we are very excited about the prospect of future cubs.”

DK20241217 FOTA 036 Darragh Kane Darragh Kane

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    Mute Dominic Leleu
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    Jan 12th 2025, 5:37 PM

    night time restrictions on water because on ice … really ?

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    Mute Diarmuid Hunt
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    Jan 12th 2025, 6:30 PM

    @Dominic Leleu: Did you not know that when water freezes (becomes ice) it expands and can cause damage to pipes?

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    Mute Athena
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    Jan 12th 2025, 6:33 PM

    @Diarmuid Hunt: Did you not know properly fitted and insulated pipes rarely burst in other, colder countries?

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    Mute Joanne Stokes
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    Jan 13th 2025, 6:38 AM

    @Dominic Leleu: queue water or tax on water charges!!!

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    Mute Diarmuid Hunt
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    Jan 13th 2025, 8:33 AM

    @Athena: Yes, in other colder countries that experience that level of cold yearly… I suppose we’ll be copying countries that experience 40+ degree heat regularly in their mitigation strategies too?

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    Mute Chop Chop
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    Jan 12th 2025, 5:44 PM

    That’s annoying. I charge up my water powered car at night-time :-(

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    Mute Philip Kennedy
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    Jan 13th 2025, 3:20 AM

    @Chop Chop: that probably sounded funny in your head.

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    Mute Colonel Gaddafi
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    Jan 12th 2025, 5:26 PM

    What rubbish when ice melt its water so how shortage? Lies by this

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    Mute Ollie McGlinchey
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    Jan 12th 2025, 6:26 PM

    @Colonel Gaddafi: Do you want to try that again when you sober up?

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    Mute Colonel Gaddafi
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    Jan 13th 2025, 5:19 AM

    @Ollie McGlinchey: I don’t drink silly boy shut mouthy

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    Mute Patrick Westman
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    Jan 12th 2025, 5:02 PM

    The government may consider expanding it to take in some areas of Kerry and North Tipperary .

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    Mute F1rYnpWc
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    Jan 12th 2025, 5:52 PM

    I’m sure Chutes jonn gaddafi trump24 chop have an opinion

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    Mute Karen Marten
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    Jan 13th 2025, 1:08 PM

    @Tired Jim: that’s good coming from you you must have 6

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    Mute Padraig O'Brien
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    Jan 12th 2025, 8:37 PM

    There’s always the Shannon!

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    Mute dave moran
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    Jan 13th 2025, 5:30 AM

    The water charge policy is still on the table so they need to keep banging on about the state of the infrastructure, they will have their way, eventually.

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    Mute Trump24
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    Jan 12th 2025, 9:14 PM

    Eh no

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