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The male will be called Bima, an Indonesian name meaning brave; the female will be Mali, an Indonesian name meaning flower, the zoo announced Thursday.
Over the past six weeks, more than 4,500 people cast votes on possible names for the tigers. The zoos tiger keepers came up with five names for each cub for the public to choose from. Voting was online.
The names Bima and Mali each received about 30 percent of the votes.
Their new names match their personalities perfectly, staff biologist Andy Goldfarb said of the cubs. The male, Bima, really is brave. Hes always the first to explore and try new things. His sister, Mali, is so beautiful and elegant.
The cubs were born May 25 to mom Jaya and dad Bali at the Tacoma zoo and weighed 2 pounds. Bima and Mali now weigh about 15 pounds each.
The cubs made their public debut last week. They can be seen with their mother every day at the zoos Asian Forest Sanctuary. Viewing times are listed at www.pdza.org .
Bima and Mali will be at Point Defiance until they are about 2 years old.
At that time, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan will make recommendations concerning their breeding and might move the tigers accordingly.
