(Latest info is at the top of the page)
Sho Sho the Magnificent (Photo: Delano Mulder - August 2011)
Not only brother and sister, but best mates too! (Aug 2011)
2012
27 February: These two were the last of the older ones to get a toy each. The minute we gave them to them they ran with it as far away as possible, as they were worried we would take them back. Faye got a stuffed hose pipe made of firehose material and Sho Sho got a ballistic ring. They both ran around with their toys quite a bit, and once Sho Sho became hot, he took his toy and went to sit in his pool with it. The next day we went back to retrieve the toys and found that there wasn’t that much left of them. The ballistic ring was tiger-tested by the manufacturer– but clearly not tested on Seaview Tigers! It does work very well for our younger cubs though.
21 DECEMBER: Sho Sho and Faye: They received a special blood lolly yesterday – this time we froze it with a piece of bone sticking out, so they can carry it around the enclosure more easily. Unfortunately we had only one of those made, and since Faye usually gets the first lolly every time, we decided to give this one to Sho Sho first. Sho Sho turned out to be a bad brother that would not share and Faye ended up coming up to us for comfort. Now that we know they love those lollies, we’ll make sure we make more of the same! Later this week the volunteers’ project for the day will be to clean out the tigers’ enclosure: clearing out all the bones, weeding and cleaning out their pool so we can fill it up with fresh clean water. Photos of the re-launching of the pool will be posted on Facebook and Twitter straight away, so have a look!
13 OCTOBER: The tigers pool got cleaned out the other day and it took two days to fill up! Sho Sho and Faye got fed in the little enclosed area and stayed there overnight while the pool was filling up. We released them back out the next day and they both walked slowly up to the pool. Sho Sho went in 1st and Faye just after. It took them a while to warm up but then they were just up and down, running all through the enclosure, jumping in and out the pool. Tian was extra helpful this week with preparing the Tigers HUGE ice lollies that will be given to them on the next hot day we get – so thank you Tian!
27 SEPTEMBER 2011: Sho Sho and Faye are still very calm and relaxed whenever we go in there. Faye appears to be a bit friendlier but that is basically just her testing us out and trying to push her boundaries. Sho Sho is usually more relaxed; comes to say hello and then just falls down for a nap. When the wind picks up he gets a bit more playful but listens when he’s told off. This week we’ll be cleaning up their pool so they can start playing in it again instead of just using it as a toilet.
12 SEPTEMBER 2011: We still go in with the tigers and to see how big and majestic they are getting is just overwhelming. They respond to the staff so well and behave so nicely that it is a very calming experience spending time with them. Sho Sho is around 180kg and you can really see the difference in size between him and Faye now. He is still a very good boy and seems to have positively influenced Faye who is also much more relaxed and calm.
5 SEPTEMBER 2011: The tigers are doing really well and enjoyed a long visit by all the volunteers as we spring cleaned their enclosure on Wednesday. They enjoyed watching all the volunteers pulling out weeds and raking up all the freshly cut grass in their enclosure. Sho Sho is enormous now and there is a very visible difference in size between him and Faye. We are also still enjoying going in with them whenever we get a chance.
1 AUGUST 2011: The tigers have been seen playing a lot and are growing beautifully. The guys went in the other day and had a great time walking the tigers around their enclosure and snapping some photos which we will share soon.
25 JULY 2011: Due to the weather this past week we haven’t had a chance to spend any time with the tigers. Hopefully the sun will come out soon so we can take lots of new pictures of them.
11 JULY 2011: Sho Sho and Faye are growing beautifully! They have been getting lots of attention and belly rubs from Ashley, Delano and Dean lately. Dean has also been taking lots of photos of them so hopefully they will be our picture of the week soon so everyone can see how big they’ve gotten!
6 JUNE 2011: Sho Sho and Faye are still doing amazingly well. They still eat every third day, with each one getting a horse or cow leg. We are also still handling them as they behave really well with us and follow us around the enclosure fence almost as if we are taking them for a walk. But once we reach the end, one of them will suddenly sprint away into the long grass and this is the start of a very impressive play time which includes running and tackling each other and jumping into their pool. They also like to stalk each other in the long grass and then suddenly out of nowhere pounce on each other. This is all very exciting and impressive to see how such large cats can completely disappear into the grass or sprint at each other at such high speeds.
Sho Sho is a beautiful boy (May 2011)
13 MAY 2011: Sho Sho and Faye have been enjoying the colder wet weather of late and love the fact that with all the rain their pool is overflowing. Sho Sho decided on Wednesday to take a piece of meat into his pool and play there with it. They are growing so big now we guesstimate that Sho Sho weighs in at +/- 180kg. They are still very friendly with us. Ashley, Dean and Delano are still going in and spending some time with them on a regular basis. They are now 17-months-old.
25 APRIL 2011: These tigers are loving life – they are 16 months old and getting so big. They have so much green grass to hide and play in, they still bathe in the pool and roll around in it, and are getting fed every 3rd day. We still visit them and spend time with them for hugs and play time and the bottle and they act just like babies. They frooft and make crying noises when we scratch them under the chin, and their teeth are enormous. Faye seems like the one always initiaing play, and Sho Sho is just so big and lazy it takes him a few minutes to get going. After they play they rest in the shade and lick each other and are very affectionate.
15 MARCH 2011: Sho Sho and Faye are huge now, with Sho Sho weighing around 140 kilograms. Faye is a little smaller but she packs plenty of power. Both are always playing around in the grass then cool off in the pool. They are also getting fed 2 legs every 3 days, and always carry the meat around to the best shady spot to eat. They still have their porridge bottle almost every day and love it!
FEBRUARY 2011
Sho Sho and Faye loving their new pool (Feb '11)
17TH: The tigers have their new pool! We let them out to explore this afternoon and they absolutely love it! Both were jumping and rolling around in the water and having so much fun! Very big thank you to the Israeli group for making this possible.
Playing in the pool
16TH: Our tigers are looking amazing and are so gentle and loving. We still visit them every day and they love their bottle and hugs we give them. They are very playful with each other and often run and jump on each other and roll around in the long grass. This week a group of Israeli volunteers arrived, and they have worked through very hot temperatures to build a pool for them which looks fantastic! The work they’ve done is great, and we can’t wait for it to be finished so that Sho Sho and Faye can play in their new pool! We are sure the will love it!
2ND: Sho Sho and Faye are gorgeous as ever and love the daily visits by Delano and Tamz. Both run up to the gate when we come in and frooft and walk around and around us. Both have lost their baby teeth and are still getting the bottles of porridge. They get their horse leg every 3 days. Sho Sho is always sitting in the water trough so we are arranging for a bath to go into their enclosure for them to cool off in. It’s beautiful to watch them have so much space to run and jump and play with each other in.
JANUARY 2011
25TH: Our tigers are doing very well and love our daily visits. They are still on 2 bottles a day of porridge as a nice treat. Sho Sho is noticeably larger than Faye and they are so gentle and loving to us its amazing. They love to jump around and run in the open grass, and Sho Sho is always inviting Faye to play with him. The lions around them are finally getting used to their new neighbors so the tigers are getting a reprieve from being ‘stalked’!
Sho Sho in the tigers' new home. They love the grass! (Jan 18)
Sho Sho spends a lot of time lying in his water! (18 Jan)
18TH: Our beautiful ‘baby’ tigers are so impressive and amazingly well-behaved in their new home. Both are so happy and sweet, and have so much space to chase each other and play in the long grass — it’s a great sight to see. They both have their adult teeth coming through so we have found some baby teeth in their home, however Sho Sho’s canine is wobbly but refuses to come out, but hopefully Faye will knock it out so we can collect it! They are getting fed meat every 3rd day, and two porridge bottles a day.
11TH: Sho Sho and Faye have been successfully moved to their new enclosure! They are now in the place where the famous Bob used to live, next to where the drive-through girls are. The move went very well and without a hiccup. Both were a little nervous and scared of their new house at first, but are becoming much more confident and exploring the land as each hour goes by. They sure do look very happy and playful in the tall grass and trees and we are so proud of them!
3RD: It was the tigers’ birthday on 28 December (as well as Janice Gibb and Nebbie), HAPPY ONE YEAR BIRTHDAY SHO SHO and FAYE! These cubs are just huge and beautiful and as loving as ever. They are really maturing into gorgeous tigers and we are so proud of them. Both have become very comfortable with the moving cage in their enclosure and run through it and around it all the time, so we think the moving process should be stress free. Not sure on an exact date of when they will be moved but it shall be soon.
DECEMBER 2010
20TH: This week, we added in the moving cage to Sho Sho and Faye’s enclosure. Soon they’ll be moved out to the bigger, bottom enclosures, so we want them to not be scared of the box and make it a stress-free move. Both were intimidated and scared at first, but grew with confidence over the past few days, and can now be seen playing around it and through it. These tigers will be turning 1 year old at the end of the month! They’re still so amazingly well behaved and love their bottle!
14TH: The tigers have been doing excellently this week and are growing bigger by the day. Both have been very active in climbing the trees and exploring their enclosure in the branches. However, they are quite heavy now and seem to be falling out and bringing with them all the small sticks and branches. A day after their feeding, Faye isn’t interested in her bottle as she has eaten too much from the night before! Sho Sho is gaining weight every week and his paws are huge! Both are so friendly and are always ‘froofing’ to us and each other whenever we see them.
Sho Sho's paw in mid November. It's got even bigger since!
7TH: Sho Sho is getting enormous and very majestic looking, he loves a good scratch under the chin. Faye is still a cheeky girl, but she has calmed down a lot. They climbed the tree and could not get out even with the offering of a bottle. Eventually, after making a big mess with the tree, they managed to get out and had their delicious protein bottle. They have found a new way of using a tire for a toilet, so it makes the cleaning easier for us. And in three weeks they will be celebrating their first birthday!
NOVEMBER 2010
29TH: The tigers are looking amazing and are so cute. They are loving their horse/cow leg they get and finish it right up until there is nothing left. We are still doing handlings with them and they are now 11 months old. Today during a handling, a frog jumped inside their enclosure, and being curious cats Faye decided she would try eat it! However, the alarmed frog peed in her mouth and Faye was not a happy tiger. She immediately spat it out and carried on making odd faces at how gross the frog tasted! They also had another visitor, a Rhombic Night Adder slithered through their enclosure and Delano had to come to the rescue and get it out before either one got hurt.
23RD: These tigers are looking good, with their feeding now changed to getting a big leg every third day to share. Both look healthy and shiny, and their fur is really looking more adult and have lost their fluffiness. Faye loves to climb the trees but gets stuck every now and then. Both are still on the daily bottles and people are always amazed at how well they behave for their size. See latest photos below.
Relaxing
Enjoying lunch
15TH: Today was a scorcher and so we decided to treat the tigers to some ice cubes, in the big green tub. Faye got such a fright when we threw the ice into the tub, but as cats go, she was overcome with curiosity and was soon playing with the ice, along with her brave brother Sho Sho. They were soon energised and raced around their enclosure, playing ‘catch’ with one another.
8TH: The tigers are looking great and ‘froof’ to us every day. Sho Sho is very gentle and loving, and is turning into such an impressive boy. He sits on the platform and looks so majestic and grown up, he’s such a beautiful tiger! Faye still likes to stalk him at every opportunity . We have stopped walking the tigers due to Faye getting freaked out over the smallest things and is impossible to handle. They are playing with each other quite rough and are tearing the tree near their water bowl apart. They are also still climbing the tree and get pretty high now and are much more co-ordinated.
2ND: Both the beautiful Tigers are doing fantastically well, and have been very playful with each other every day. The walks are excellent, with no running, playing or jumping, although Faye still hates putting the harness on. She has also developed a phobia of large sticks and branches on the ground and refuses to walk past them! But once Sho Sho walks past them safely she’s okay. They still receive the 2 bottles daily and love it! Both are still really easy to feed at evening times, and Sho Sho shakes and attacks his meat like it isn’t dead yet.
OCTOBER 2010
25TH:
The tigers will be 10 months old in 2 days! Happy Birthday! We are still doing handlings with them, and Sho Sho is really placid with the guests and a great camera poser. We also still walk them on the harness and they are excellent, with no running, playing or jumping. They also receive the 2 bottles daily and love it! Today we tried to weigh them but mission failed. Rough guess would put Sho Sho in at about 90 kilos (198 pounds), Faye about 70-75 Kilos (154 -165 pounds). Both are still climbing the trees every day and becoming more co-ordinated.
18TH: Tigers are still walking very well and did an amazing job for us this past week. They have been extremely good with new volunteers and not jumping too much and allowing them to pet them. Faye has become more adventurous and has been spotted climbing higher up in the tree.
11TH: Faye and Sho Sho have been extremely well! They are receiving two bottles a day – one in the morning and the other a 2pm then their steak at night. They are very obedient during feedings and are probably the easiest of the lot to feed.
SEPTEMBER 2010
6TH: The tigers are still on one bottle a day: half porridge, half water (warm) and a horse leg every third day. They are growing so fast. We got a new harness for Sho Sho today and Faye will his old one. They get walked once a day, two laps at a time and behave themselves 90% of the time but the other times you can feel how powerful they are getting. Tried their water tub the other day and Sho Sho could not even fit half his body in it, cracking it in the process. So we had to take it out completely else he would ruin it. Gave them ice cubes and they seemed to like it but after a while lost interest. Faye was throwing hers around the concrete pool area. Janice got them a bowling ball and they love it!
AUGUST 2010:
12TH: Sho Sho and Faye are now 8-months-old are still here in their enclosure under the Boardwalk and are doing very well. We still take them for their walk everyday and are also still doing handlings with the public.
DECEMBER 2009:
The newest addition to the Park are two more tiger cubs, but this time a boy and a girl. Sho Sho and Faye really talk a lot and keep all of us here really busy.
