Homesick and listless in Sacramento, Sumatran tiger Jillian back at S.F. Zoo
Jillian left her heart in San Francisco.
After a year of trying to adjust to life in the Sacramento Zoo, the Sumatran tiger bid farewell to the state capital and moved back to the San Francisco Zoo. One potential factor contributing to Jillian’s melancholy, according to caretakers, was that she was the only tiger of her kind at the facility.
But like many who leave San Francisco, Jillian got homesick. And it never went away, the zoo said. The 4-year-old found it hard to adjust to her new surroundings despite caretakers’ efforts to shield her from the hot summers.
Jillian was transferred to Sacramento based on a recommendation by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Sumatran Tiger Species Survival Plan.
“Her caretakers have worked diligently to feed her favorite treats, supply her with ample toys and enrichment, and help her settle in, but she has not thrived as we would like to see,” the Sacramento Zoo said in a statement.
Caretakers became concerned when Jillian had difficulty moving from one area of her enclosure to another — an indicator of her unease, the zoo said.
They decided to send Jillian back to her birthplace, the San Francisco Zoo.
Staff members from Sacramento and San Francisco evaluated a care plan for Jillian. A veterinarian behaviorist from the UC Davis school of Veterinary Medicine prescribed antianxiety medication.
For now, she is in quarantine in San Francisco.
Zookeepers expect the 213pound cat to soon roam her enclosure again, to the delight of children and parents throughout the Bay Area.
Sumatran tigers are an endangered species and only 500 solitary cats, at most, are believed to exist in the wild. Two hundred of the tigers live in zoos around the world. The cat is found only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra off the Malaysian Peninsula.