If you’ve ever run into the child of an old friend, you know how Jackie Stone feels these days.
Stone is the director of carnivores at the Philadelphia Zoo — and the “child of a friend” isn’t human.
It’s one of two big cats that arrived recently at the zoo — Rory, a 4-year-old Amur tiger. Stone cared for Rory’s father when she worked in Michigan.
The odds of this meeting are exceedingly low. There are only around 300 living Amur tigers in the world.
In fact, Rory and the other addition, an Amur leopard, are both critically endangered and now on exhibit at the zoo, offering a rare glimpse at two of the world’s most elusive big cats.
Stone feels fortunate.
“Amur tigers are my favorite to work with. I feel like they have such big personalities, so I was pretty jazzed about it,” Stone sa