THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 23, 1995 TAG: 9511180598
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SCOTT MCCASKEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 102 lines
The boy and the tiger stared at each other, eye to eye.
Neither blinked.
Then - in an instant - the mighty cat sprang full force at the glass barrier.
``She just jumped at me,'' said a startled Dustin Addair, 9, of Norfolk. ``My heart is pumping so fast. My knees are weak.''
It's show time at the Norfolk zoo, and Siberian tigers Shaka and Shere Khan are the stars.
A tangible air of excitement surrounds the magnificent animals, who seem to take turns performing. One basks in the sun while the other romps and prances.
Spinning wheels, however, get both of the big cats' attention. They stalk wheelchairs, baby strollers and bicycles, racing the cage's perimeter with their amber eyes keen on the spinning spokes. Michael Holcomb of Norfolk likes to push his mother, Barbara, in her wheelchair along the outside of the cage.
``We can't get mom out of the house unless it's to see the tigers,'' Holcomb said.
The tigers' attraction is bigger than was expected. Since the grand opening of their new home Sept. 23, more than 40,000 spectators - 10,000 the first weekend - have come to the zoo, many just for the Khan sisters.
Maryann Clark and Dave Bauer are among them.
``We're cat lovers, and we came to look at the tigers,'' Clark said. ``They look very comfortable - and what show-offs.''
Zoo designer Azeo Torre had been concerned that people wouldn't come out for just one exhibit.
``Azeo said he has gladly eaten his words,'' said Major Benton, executive director of the Virginia Zoological Society, the zoo's administrative, fund-raising and educational body. ``We expected a good turnout, but it's been better than we anticipated.''
Visitors often are elbow to elbow at any of the tiger habitat's three viewing areas, and they squeeze in to get a closer glimpse of the animals' proud faces and stealthlike moves. The cats play to an audience most of the day.
The tigers have adapted well to their new environment, Benton said.
``They don't seem to be bothered by much. They seem to like all the attention.''
Zoo superintendent Gary Ochsenbein said that ``fear is not part of the cats' package. These animals have been hand-raised since they opened their eyes. They have no fear of humans. Everything is a curiosity.''
But if people entered the habitat, the cats probably would accidentally kill them by playing, Ochsenbein said.
``The keepers stopped playing with them after the animals drew blood,'' he said. ``At the least, you could get a giant case of cat-scratch fever.''
Although it is difficult for the average spectator to tell the animals apart, for zoo keepers, it's obvious in both marking and personality.
``Shaka is more laid-back,'' said Louise Hill, zoo curator and animal supervisor. ``Shere always has had a sharper temper.''
The tigers are from the same litter and a little more than 3 years old. They weigh about 300 pounds each, almost 80 percent of their full adult weight. Their meals consist of a prepared vitamin-balanced carnivore diet product. But sometimes they receive what Ochsenbein calls ``anti-boredom'' food, a mix of whole pig, chicken and rabbit parts. Shaka and Shere are fed separately to avoid a food fight.
The cats' new home is one of the nicer tiger habitats in the country, Ochsenbein said. The 8,000-square-foot facility features grassy knolls, a waterfall and stream, a rock outcropping, and the shade of a large pine tree and tall bamboo. They eat and sleep in a three-roomed bay behind the outcropping.
The site is surrounded by a 17-foot-high metal fence, mildly electrified at the top. The fence type of cage design, as opposed to a moated structure, allows spectators a closer view of the tigers.
``I've been to the zoos in San Diego, Washington and Los Angeles, and this is by far the closest I've been to the tigers yet,'' said Melissa Kittrell of Chesapeake.
Perhaps the best vantage point is from the window. The 1 3/4-inch-thick glass barrier lets visitors literally come face-to-face with the beautiful beasts. The cats' breath often fogs the glass.
The sisters are two of an estimated 360 Siberian tigers in captivity worldwide. The species is endangered, with an estimated 300 left in the wild. Siberians are the largest of all big cats and live to be about 15 in the wild, 18 in captivity. A full-grown male in the wild can weigh up to 800 pounds and stretch 12 feet tail to nose. Tigers are one of the few big cats that like water.
Shaka and Shere came to the zoo as newborns after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service confiscated them from an illegal breeder. They were to stay at the Norfolk zoo temporarily, but Hampton Roads Exxon dealers spearheaded a fund-raising drive to build the tigers a home and keep them in Norfolk.
As cubs, they were reared in the houses of Hill and other zoo keepers. It took about a year and a half for the Virginia Zoological Society to raise $250,000 in donations, a sum the city then matched. It took another year and a half to build the cats' new habitat.
``We saw the tigers when they were cubs,'' Bauer said. ``They look like they're doing just fine in their new home.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by RICHARD L. DUNSTON
George Hyatt and his wife, Pat, visit the tigers' new home with
their grandchildren, Amanda, front, and Garrett.
by CNB