<\/a>Tiger siblings Korol and Kunali relax in the snow at the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage. After each tiger died, zoo officials donated them to the UA Museum of the North in Fairbanks, where they are available for scientific research and outreach. (Photo courtesy of the Alaska Zoo)<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
For example, a researcher might walk into the museum with the bone of a scimitar-toothed cat that thawed out of a northern riverbank. Those giant cats roamed Alaska thousands of years ago and have a skeletal structure like a tiger’s.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Among a number of potential research possibilities, having all the labeled bones of Kunali might help a scientist determine which bone of an extinct scimitar cat or American lion someone has found in Alaska.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“Having the whole large cat skeleton gives us a reference for species IDs and fragmentary parts,” Gunderson said. “We preserve the skin and skeleton as parts we can loan for science and education purposes.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“Kunali” died at age 19 at the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage on March 13, 2024. A zoo official drove the tiger carcass up the Parks Highway to UAF, where Gunderson slid it into his pickup bed and then transferred it into the museum with the help of a chain hoist.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Gunderson waited for the tiger to thaw on a stainless necropsy table. He then removed the hide and prepared the tiger’s bones and some tissue samples to be part of the museum’s extensive research collection.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Kunali was not the first Siberian tiger Gunderson has encountered in his job. He worked on Kunali’s brother Korol, another gift from the Alaska Zoo, last year. Though Gunderson mostly processes smaller mammals, such as dozens of marmots each year, he has also prepared and preserved camels, flying foxes, sloths, and other animals not found today in Alaska.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“I never thought I’d get to skin two tigers,” said Gunderson, who would be a good partner to have on a moose hunt along with his kitchen knives and skinning blades. “It’s probably the most exotic, coolest thing I’ve done in my career.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t