Tulsa Zoo Offers Visitors Chance To Catch Live Video Of New Tiger Cub

A little Malayan Tiger cub at the Tulsa Zoo is taking social media by storm. The zoo posted a video of the three-week-old cub with her mom Ava, and it has more than 600,000 reactions on Facebook.

The Curator of Mammals at the Tulsa zoo, Jordan Piha, said there is now a camera in Lost Kingdom where guests can see live video of Ava and her cub any time they visit.

"Ava the mom, has been an excellent mom- she has been taking care of the baby and really that is our preference so really when we don't need to intervene and mom is a great mom, that is the perfect scenario," said Piha. 

Piha said the live feed is what they use to watch over the animals, and now anyone can take a look.

"That is the same feed that we use to observe them and how we watched momma when she was pregnant,” Piha said. “That is available for people to view at the indoor Tiger Exhibit. They can look right in on the den, it doesn't disturb momma at all, and you can see the development of the cub in there before momma is ready to let her out."

Behind these sweet faces are big stories that zoo employees hope people connect with when they see these creatures in person - then continue to push for change once they get home.

"There is less than 300 other Malayan Tigers left in the wild. There is around 50 in AZA zoos and every single one of them is important," said Piha. 

AZA stands for the Association of Zoos & Aquariums. Tulsa Zoo takes part in the AZA's Tiger Species Survival Plan.

"We are already seeing her move about, try those legs out maybe even try a growl or two," said Piha. 

Ava and her cub will stay in the den until Ava decides her baby is ready to leave the enclosure. Right now, the cub is trying to catch up with her mom, by sleeping 18-20 hours a day.

Zoo employees said they are still deciding on a name for Ava's cub and will announce their decision in the next couple of weeks.