SINGAPORE – One of the three Malayan tigers at Rainforest Wild Asia will be transferred to Taipei Zoo to be paired with a young female tiger there.

This follows the arrival of a five-year-old female Malayan tiger from the Taipei Zoo at Mandai on Feb 26 as a potential mate for a male Malayan tiger here.

The “exchange programme” is part of collaborative efforts within the international zoo network to help establish a sustainable population of the critically endangered Malayan tiger in human care.

The four-year-old male tiger will be transferred to Taipei Zoo by June, Mandai Wildlife Group told The Straits Times. It is unknown how long he will be there for.

He is one of two tiger brothers residing at Singapore’s newest park.

Before he goes over, he will be quarantined and examined to ensure that he is fit to travel. A crate will also be custom-made for him for the journey.

The animal care team will use food rewards to condition him to enter the crate voluntarily and get used to it.

“This consistent training will aid the keepers in the transfer of the animal, making it as stress-free as possible on the day of the flight departure,” said Ms Cecilia Tang, curator for animal care at Mandai Wildlife Group.

While it is up to the male tiger to earn his stripes to win the feline over at the Taipei Zoo, their genetic diversity profile as well as their ages were taken into consideration for this exchange, to ensure that they are a good match.

According to conservation group World Wide Fund for Nature, there are fewer than 150 Malayan tigers in the wild.

Mandai said that since 1994, it has been actively participating in international zoo collaborative programmes to support the genetic diversity and conservation of Malayan tigers.

As for the female Malayan tiger from Taipei Zoo, she recently completed the mandatory 30-day quarantine.

She will then be acclimatised to the new environment at a back-of-house support facility before being gradually introduced to the tiger habitat at Rainforest Wild Asia.

“Throughout this process, we prioritise working with the animal...