January 27
When the cubs were born on May 2, they weighed about two pounds apiece. On January 1, the smallest, Marah, weighed 102 pounds! Besar is now 118 pounds, and Jalan tips the scales at a hefty 122 pounds. They are growing so fast and they look great, as you can see in the terrific pictures that Jessie Cohen, the Zoo's photographer, took of them. They were a little leery of the snow at first but quickly decided that it was great stuff and started tearing around the yard chasing each other, pouncing, wrestling and just generally being big healthy boys. 
See the photo gallery.
Speaking of healthy, Jalan and Besar had their first physicals this month. Marah had his physical in October when the vets wanted to X-ray his leg because he was limping (he was fine, just a sprain). In October, Marah was still small enough that I could catch him up with a net, but obviously Jalan and Besar are way too big for that now. Fortunately since the boys are geniuses (my completely objective opinion!) and have been doing so well in training they could be pole darted. Pole darting means that they get their anesthesia by hypodermic syringe that fits into the end of a special pole made for that purpose. The alternative would be to dart them the same way you have probably seen on nature shows on TV, when scientists dart wild animals so they can study them. It's pretty scary for the cats and is quite painful. Worst of all, the cats may learn not to trust the vets. It's important for the vets to be able to observe the animals behaving naturally so if the cats are afraid of them, all they see is a cat hiding under its bed and snarling. The official word from the veterinarians was that the cubs are very healthy and very cute.
We no longer have the special cub cam showing the boys when they are inside. We do, however, now have a camera in each of the yards that the tigers use. People often ask if the cats go out in the winter. They do, but not if it is very cold or windy, or if it is snowing. Also, they go out for a shorter period of time and we put extra hay in their dens to help keep them warm. So please come to the zoo in the winter time. There are lots of great exhibits that are indoors, and if it's a sunny, mild winter day as it often is here in Washington, it can be one of the best times to see the animals outside as well.
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