Tiger at Mesker Park Zoo heads to new home in Pennsylvania

Sarah Loesch, Evansville Courier & Press
·1 min read
Nuri, an Amur tiger, keeps her eyes on the goings on next to her enclosure at the Mesker Park Zoo & Botanic Garden March 18, 2021.
Nuri, an Amur tiger, keeps her eyes on the goings on next to her enclosure at the Mesker Park Zoo & Botanic Garden March 18, 2021.

EVANSVILLE — Anyone hoping to see the tiger at Mesker Park Zoo will need to do so over the next few weeks.

Nuri, the Amur tiger, will be heading to the Erie Zoo in Pennsylvania as Mesker Park prepares to start renovations to the animal's "off-exhibit holding" area.

Born at the Milwaukee County Zoo in 2009, Nuri came to Mesker Park Zoo in 2016.

Nuri goes into that part of the facility daily to allow her zookeepers to care for her, Mesker Park officials posted via Facebook.

"While not visible to the public, this renovation is necessary to maintain modern zoological standards and to allow more training opportunities," the post states.

This means Nuri has to be in another facility.

"We will be working with the Tiger Species Survival Plan to identify a tiger of a different sub-species for Mesker Park Zoo in the future," the post states.

The Malayan Sun Bear, Fong, will also be affected as he moves to another location in the zoo temporarily while the work is done.

This story was updated around noon May 1 to note the correct location of the Sun Bear.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Tiger at Mesker Park Zoo heads to new home in Pennsylvania