Today July 29th, 2022 is International Tiger Day. The Ellen Trout Zoo is celebrating by officially welcoming a new tiger to the zoo family. Arya, the Malayan Tiger, has already made an impact since her arrival.

Arya is 8 years old and according to the Ellen Trout Zoo she has a strong personality. She is selective about her zookeepers and her enrichment items, and they are already referring to her as their "spicy queen".

She was moved to Ellen Trout Zoo from Zoo Knoxville, a 53-acre zoo located just east of downtown Knoxville, Tennessee. The primary reason she is here is to be a mate for Angin.

Arya Is Part Of The Species Survival Plan For Malayan Tigers

Angin is an 11-year-old male Malayan Tiger that arrived at Ellen Trout Zoo in November 2020. He was born in the Bronx Zoo and transferred at some point to the Fort Worth Zoo, and then to our zoo.

Arya and Angin have already been introduced and signs are pointing to a match made in heaven. She showed that she liked him by chuffing at him, a puffy exhale kind of whisper, and a friendly tiger way of saying "hello".

Angin is very vocal at the Ellen Trout Zoo and I am sure we will be hearing his loud roar a lot more now that he has a mate. We could be seeing some cubs in the next year as a Mayalan tiger's gestation period is an average of 100 days.

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Today in honor of International Tiger Day Arya got some extra enrichment items that included "blood-cicles" and cardboard boxes with treats.

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