Visitors can see the cubs exploring their new home
Keepers at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo are celebrating the arrival of four endangered Amur tiger cubs.
Team leader Donovan Glyn said: “It’s incredible news for us to have endangered Amur tiger cubs born here at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo, but to have four of them is just amazing, especially when you consider there are only 500 left in the wild.”
The tiger cubs were born to seven-year-old Naya on Saturday (23 June) following a pregnancy of 108 days.
Zookeepers kept a close eye on the second-time mum using a hidden camera as she delivered her first cub at 7.25pm, and were thrilled to see her give birth to a further three cubs over the next five hours.
The family are now getting to know each other in a birthing den in the centre of the Zoo’s tiger enclosure.
“Having cameras in her den is allowing us to keep a close eye on how they’re all getting on 24/7, and it’s also letting us share in the magic of them taking their first steps,” Donovan Glyn continued.
“Naya is very attentive, cleaning the cubs regularly and letting them suckle whenever they want to. She has also stayed very calm and relaxed throughout, even when dad Botzman went in to see what was going on. He seemed to take one look at the first cub and decide to give them some space!”
Listed as Endangered by the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species, Amur tigers had been hunted to near extinction. It is thanks to the conservation efforts of organisations like ZSL that there are now an estimated 500 remaining in the wild.
Visitors to the zoo this summer will be able to see the tiger cubs exploring their new home. Zookeepers will also be revealing exclusive video footage of the cubs on the ZSL Whipsnade Zoo social media channels over the coming months.
Image (C) ZSL London
