As the cubs have become bolder at home, Giles thinks it’s time for Spot and Stripe
to increase their socialization with the adult tigers back at the zoo.
At the main tiger compound,
Giles and his team are full-time carers for ten adult tigers
and Spot and Stripe have been gradually exposed to them.
Ah, good boy! Good boy!
Good boy!
Seeing the adult tigers through the glass is one thing,
but their next big milestone is to socialize
and meet one of the adults in the open air.
There’s going to be lots of interesting smells in here with all the other tigers,
like the big guys come through here on a regular basis
and it’s much, much more of a sensory stimulation
for them in here, in terms of the smell
than just being round the front of the glass
The big tigers never go round that side, so…
Get used to walking around here boys.
In just over a month, the cubs will be too big to live at home.
And they need to be accepted by the adults for them to live here full-time.
He’s a little bit nervous, as you expect.
You can see he’s smelling all the smells around.
There’s lots of smells of big predators, other tigers around,
so you got to be a little bit cautious, naturally.
In the wild, an unrelated tiger could easily injure the cubs.
-How is she? -She’s waiting. Here you go.
And Giles hopes Maneki won’t display any threatening behaviours.
So, this is Maneki.
Well, this is the very, very first time that Maneki’s seen any cubs whatsoever.
Tigers communicate using a range of vocalizations.
And the most common non-threatening sound they make is called a chuff.
Chuffing is reassuring. So, they’re chuffing at her.
They’re chuffing at each other.
So, it’s a reassuring type of noise, but it’s also a way of greeting.
So, she speaks your language, not like Ruby.
Tigers are one of the few cats in the world to communicate in this way.
These guys are very inquisitive,
so their facial expression with their ears is exactly that.
Now he’s being a bit submissive for the fact
that he’s putting his ears slightly back. He’s getting down low.
So, that’s just being a little bit unsure, if you like, whereas Maneki,
you can see how relaxed she is. She’s sat there. She’s fairly happy.
So, Stripe, he’s getting a little bit close.
He’s being cautious in the way in which he approaches.
Good boy.
You’re brave. Yeah.
Look at his face. He’s very, very cautious,
like he wants to go up a bit closer,
but he’s also a little nervous, but that’s to be expected.
Like, look at the size of her in comparison to him…
And she’s reacting a little. she doesn’t want to be surprised.
The cubs have won over Maneki and Giles is relieved.
For a very first encounter,
you couldn’t have asked for it to go any better or any smoother.
No one’s being aggressive.
No one’s showing over interest, or too much interest,
and the cubs are coping really well.
