After being around for nearly eight months, the Uganda Wildlife Conservation Education Centre (UWEC) Entebbe has revealed a pair of grown up Tigers.
The pair of tigers, a male and female tiger, were earlier on imported from South Africa and were exchanged for 25 monkeys from Uganda.
“We just met their shipping fee of US$2,000 from South Africa to Uganda,” commented Dr. Musinguzi, the UWEC executive director. The two tigers which are yet to be christened, consume 10kg of meat every day, putting their feeding cost at Sh150,000 daily.
Questioned why it had taken long for UWEC to unveil the cats to the public, Dr. James Musinguzi commented that the pair had been undergoing institutional quarantine and medical examination during the initial months after importation until when they were deemed fit to occupy their holding facility.
According to Dr. Musinguzi, tigers, which are the largest members of the cat family, last existed in Uganda, in the 1970s. He further stated that conservation is a global noble cause whereby, even though animals such as tigers do not exist in Africa, it is incumbent for conservation bodies like UWEC, to educate the people on how to conserve such animal species.
He added that Uganda becomes the first East African country to accommodate tigers.
“Over the last century, subspecies of tigers have dwindled from eight to five due to hunting and logging. Therefore, this pair is a don of hope which fulfills our conservation roles of education, research, and recreation,” expressed Dr. Musinguzi.
About tigers
Tigers are territorial, generally solitary but social animals that only survive in Asia’s wild. Everywhere else in the world, tigers are kept in captivity. As of 2015, the global wild tiger population was estimated to number between 3,062 and 3,948 mature individuals.
The Tiger has a muscular body with powerful forelimbs, a large head, and a tail that is about half of its full body.
Male tigers vary from the total length from 8ft-12ft and weigh between 90kg-300kg. Females have a total length ranging from 6ft-9ft whereas they weigh 65kg to 167kg.
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