Cuteness Overload: National Zoo’s Tiger Cubs Get Their First Check-up

The animal-loving world still might be fixated on last Friday’s birth of a giant panda cub, but the three-day-old blob is far from the only recent arrival at the National Zoo. The zoo is also rolling out images of its two newborn Sumatran tiger cubs, which had their first full veterinary examinations today.

The two still-unnamed cubs, one male and one female, were born Aug. 5 to the zoo’s adult female tiger, Damai. The male cub weighs about eight pounds, while the female cub comes in at 7.5 pounds, according to the zoo.

During the check-up, zoo staff implanted the cubs with transponder microchips and collected blood and fecal samples. Both cubs are said to be “healthy, plump, and growing quickly.”

To say nothing of being far more expressive and engaging than a three-day-old panda.

Benjamin Freed

Staff Writer

Benjamin Freed joined Washingtonian in August 2013 and covers politics, business, and media. He was previously the editor of DCist and has also written for Washington City Paper, the New York Times, the New Republic, Slate, and BuzzFeed. He lives in Adams Morgan.