Taiping Zoo and Night Safari"s newborn cubs has been named Puntum, Teja and Bayu. — Picture courtesy of TZNS

TAIPING, Aug 10 — The three newborn Malayan tiger cubs at the Taiping Zoo and Night Safari (TZNS) have been named Puntum, Teja and Bayu.

The names for the male and two female cubs were unveiled during the national level Elephant and Tiger Conservation Day celebration held at the zoo on Saturday.

Their names were chosen from a competition organised by the zoo in conjunction with Global Tiger Day celebrated on July 29.

State Health, Science, Environment and Green Technology Committee chairman Ahmad Saidi Mohamad Daud said over 6,000 entries were received for the competition.

"Five panelists were involved in the final decision including representatives from Taiping Municipal Council, Taiping Zoo and Night Safari and the Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan),” he said.

 

The zoo had announced that the earliest the newborn tiger cubs could be put up for viewing would be in September.

Zoo director Dr Kevin Lazarus had said a tiger cub has to be about five months old before they could be allowed to come out.

The birth of the cubs was announced by the zoo on May 1 after the safe delivery of the cubs by their 11-year-old mother named Baby on April 12, with the trio weighing in between 700 grammes and 900 grammes.

The cubs marks the fourth birth of Malayan tigers at the zoo since 2009, with the zoo now housing a total of eight tigers in total including the three cubs.