Saint John and Calgary zoos to trade tigers

Saint John's Cherry Brook Zoo and the Calgary Zoo will soon be trading tigers as part of an international breeding program.

Karma, a four-year-old Siberian tiger, is heading west in September and another large feline will take her place, said Cherry Brook's chief administrative director Len Collrin.

"We were just informed," Collrin said on Wednesday. "We belong to [the Association of Zoos & Aquariums' Species Survival Plan Program]. We don't make the rules, they just simply call us up."

We've all become quite attached to her to be totally honest.- Len Colrin, Cherry Brook Zoo

Karma has only been at the Saint John zoo for a couple of years, but has become an important centrepiece, said Collrin.

"We've all become quite attached to her to be totally honest," he said, listening to Karma roar as zoo keepers prepared to feed her.

"It's a big deal when an iconic figure leaves your facility. I mean, she is our logo, the Siberian Tiger."

But the Germany-based program is important, said Collrin.

Its goal is to ensure the survival of endangered species, such as the Siberian tiger, so it will match and shift animals around in a bid to prevent inbreeding and maintain genetic diversity.

"They control the stud book, they also control who breeds with whom," said Collrin.

The program is how Cherry Brook ended up with Karma and other tigers before her, including her father and grandfather, he said.

Karma, born in 2011 at the Assiniboine Park Zoo in Winnipeg, was sent to Saint John in November 2013.

The Cherry Brook Zoo was still reeling from the death of its previous tiger Nyla, which had to be euthanized after catching pneumonia.

Collrin doesn't know much about Karma's replacement from Calgary yet, but expects it will be another female around the same age.

He hopes one of Karma's offspring will become the fourth generation of tigers at his zoo one day.