Today, September 21, 2025, our sisters, Siberian tigers (Panthera tigris altaica) Penelopa and Agrypyna, celebrate their anniversary. They were born in 2005 at Mykolaiv Zoo. Today they are already 20 years old! This is a very respectable age for tigers, because in natural conditions tigers live for 12-15 years. But thanks to good conditions and the care of the staff, we are celebrating this anniversary today.
One autumn day, little fluffy creatures were born, which later turned into powerful and beautiful young tigresses. Penelopa and Agrypyna's parents were named Alpha and Puzyr. Alpha came to Mykolaiv Zoo in 2005 under European Endangered Species Programme (EEP) as a bride for Puzyr. They were immediately mated and three and a half months later our sisters were born. Alpha was a wonderful mother.
But time does not stand still, Penelopa and Agrypyna grew up and began to bring offspring themselves. Agrypyna was always a caring mother. And Penelopa, unfortunately, not always. There were cases when she refused to feed her cubs. And then, the employees of the carnivores department came to the rescue. They fed the tiger cubs artificially.
In 2016, the sisters Penelopa and Agrypyna brought two litters each and were good mothers. Together, they had 9 tiger cubs born that year! All of them later went to other zoos.
Now the anniversary girls, Penelopa and Agrypyna, are already on a well-deserved vacation. If you visit the "Island of Animals", you will definitely see our tigers there. Previously, they really liked to slide on the ice in winter, and happily splash in the pool in summer. And now they are already basking in the sun more, remembering their past years or walking around the territory with a respectful gait. So let's respect the old age of our birthday girls!
Today, everyone was able to join the celebration of the birthday of the tigresses. A thematic excursion about the life of our birthday girls awaited visitors, and our little guests also took part in a drawing competition. Each participant received a small prize. Thank you to everyone who joined our celebration! And we wish our tigresses good health, may they delight us for more than one year!
