Dickerson Park Zoo announced the arrival of Berisi, a four-year-old Malayan tiger, at her new home in the Springfield zoo. It’s part of a nationwide plan to keep the Malayan tiger species healthy.
Berisi is a female tiger transferred from the Palm Beach Zoo in Florida, as part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan. She will be the only tiger at Dickerson Park, as the zoo’s male tiger Bunga was transferred to a biological park in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Joey Powell, spokesperson for the Dickerson Park Zoo, says the AZA keeps track of diversity and hands breeding recommendations to zoos across the country. Powell says animals with “rock star DNA” are transferred from zoo to zoo to reproduce, which could help keep endangered species healthy. The Malayan tiger is one of those endangered species. According to the Dickerson Park Zoo, there are only 300 of them left in the wild. After a 30 day quarantine period to adjust Berisi to her new environment, the zoo will introduce her to the public.
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