First, Moo Deng the hippo, then Pesto the Penguin, now a golden tabby tiger just join the conversation!
Ava is a three year old golden tabby tiger that became a viral sensation and gave tough competition to Moo Deng, the baby pygmy hippo. On November 18, the Chiang Mai Night Safari in Thailand shared her photos on Facebook which sparked her popularity. Within just two days, the post had amassed 38,000 likes and nearly 30,000 shares.
The zoo has emphasized this unique tiger lineage that traced back to her parents, who were brought back to the safari park from the Czech Republic and South Africa in 2015. Her lineage has a strong genetic heritage that contributed to her rare golden coat, setting her apart from the traditional orange and black-striped bengal tigers.
So, what’s alluring about Ava? Ava, who was born on February 16, 2021, together with her sister Luna, has green eyes. Ava and Luna belong to a rare breed of tigers known as golden or strawberry, also as popular as Bengal tiger as it has a color variation due to the recessive gene. As per the report doing the rounds, not more than 100 such tigers are existing in the world.
Her cute and adorable features garnered the interests of social media who went crazy over her. Making Ava, truly unique, golden tigers are even rarer than white tigers, another genetic variant of Bengal or Siberian tiger of which around 200 exist globally.
Ava’s online popularity has led to an outpouring of adoration from fans around the world. Comments on her social page range from calling her a “cute little kitten” to an “orange cat.”
