If you’ve spent any time at all over the years in The Scientific Center (TSCK), one of the centers of Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS) and opened in 2000, you may very well have seen various members of an impressive group of Sand Tiger Sharks, gliding gracefully through the Mijbil Al Mutawa Aquarium. One of these is Bibi, estimated to be over twenty years old and very excitingly, now a mother of two!
It cannot be stressed enough how much of a significant global scientific achievement this is, as successful breeding of the endangered Sand Tiger Sharks with surviving pups is rare indeed, and is testimony to the great care taken of the newborns. The TSCK Marine and Wildlife Department have put together a carefully mapped out strategy to ensure the youngsters’ continued health and well-being. The skilled aquarium team makes sure the plan is executed to the letter, and, it’s working! The siblings are named Bader and Badriya, after a poll to choose names on @scicenterkw the popular Instagram account of TSCK. The two pups, one boy and one girl, were born on January 24th, 2022 in regal fashion – as they were in the presence of a number of representatives of major institutions, entities and key figures in the world of environmental sciences, preservation, biodiversity and sustainability.
Dr. Salem Al-Ablani, a biologist and a former member of the TSCK Board of Directors, elaborates that over 22 years, The Scientific Center was able to provide and maintain a suitable environment for Sand Tiger Sharks which enabled them to reproduce naturally and continuously without any artificial interference. Scientific studies also tell us that specifically this type of shark is particularly sensitive to various stressors such as crowding, diet, and water temperature, and as such is one of the rarest species that breeds in aquariums. Due to the multitude of factors that make up an aquarium environment, is it extremely challenging to maintain the shark’s pregnancy gestation period of twelve to fourteen months, highlighting once again that it is the excellent conditions that characterize TSCK’s aquarium’s environment which has resulted in the successful birth of two baby sharks. The birth of healthy youngsters also indicates that the nutritional value of the sharks’ diet is very high, which reflects very positively on the excellent breeding practices of the Marine and Wildlife Department staff and their expertise, not to mention the excellent management of The Scientific Center.
Dr. Al-Ablani further confirms that, “The biggest challenge for The Scientific Center was to safeguard the lives of the young sharks after their birth, as the fact is that Sand Tiger Shark babies need extreme care to be able to survive. Therefore, we find it very difficult to reproduce this breed of sharks…the survival of this type of shark is considered rare, and very successful models are few and far between.”
Once the hurdle of a healthy birth is cleared the team have no time to rest on their laurels. Led by Global Consultant Andrew Clarke, the aquarium team rushed the three-feet long youngsters out of the main tank and into nursery ponds to keep them safe. Here Bader and Badriya were closely monitored, the strategy exactingly followed, giving the best care to the newborns and ensuring their proper growth. The team even measured out perfectly how much food the pups were being fed and when they should feed them. This continues today as TSCK’s specialized staff still carefully weighs the amount of food the youngsters are fed. This allows the tracking of how much Bader and Badriya consume, and this information is used to determine the baby sharks’ growth rates. Dr. Al-Albani emphasizes that, “We also collect morphometric measurements (weight and height) monthly,” continuing, “These sharks have great ecological importance and value in maintaining the marine bio-balance, as well as scientific value in terms of what they mean for the field of scientific research. With this information, we will learn more about Sand Tiger Sharks, and will help other facilities around the world that struggle to breed and nurture them. We can also use this information to better understand their natural history, and help provide vital information about some of the environmental threats to which these animal populations are exposed to in nature – such as poaching, by catch, and other threats, which are thankfully in decline. Our daily observations also give us insight into their natural and reactive behaviors.”
Rana Al-Nibari, TSCK’s General Manager, reiterates that, “Our success in breeding Sand Tiger Sharks is attributable to our high-quality facilities, the experience of our specialized staff and our world class consultants.” This is all evidently a truism, but it does not describe the emotion generated when viewing the occupants of the aquarium. No matter one’s opinion on aquariums in general, there is an awe that comes over one when observing these incredible, other worldly creatures, including the Sand Tiger Sharks swimming in the waters, that cannot be denied. bazaar got the chance to take an up-close look at Bader and Badriya – well, we nearly pressed our noses up against the glass like the other kids being held back by guardians, and these sharks are perfection. As they slowly swim by you can see smatterings of tea-stained brown spots on grey sharkskin, which itself is evocative of brushed nubuck leather, like the finish you’ll see on desert boots. Fitting. As he meanders through, you can see that Bader has already had a couple of run-ins, no doubt going through Tuckman’s “storming” phase as he settles into tank life and finds his place within the hierarchy. It looks like these two will have a few adventurous tales as they grow and continue to provide TSCK with vital information on Sand Tiger Sharks, healthy and well-cared for.
Al-Nibari adds, “We are pleased to share our experience with all aquarium centers in the world to help contribute to saving these sharks from extinction and ensure their populations sustainability. We also hope to continue to produce later generations of them in The Scientific Center’s Aquarium.”
For tickets to experience the Mijbil Al Mutawa Aquarium, Discovery Place, IMAX, Gift Shops, Restaurants and so much more, visit tsck.org, and follow the Instagram account @scicenterkw for TSCK updates.
