Watch: Adorable first moments of rare new-born tiger cubs at London Zoo

Watch: Adorable first moments of rare new-born tiger cubs at London Zoo
By Euronews
Share this articleComments
Share this articleClose Button
ADVERTISEMENT

Hidden cameras have captured the adorable first moments of a trio of rare tigers at London Zoo.

The triplets were born to five-year-old Sumatran tigress Melati.

The zoo has called them ‘three of the world’s rarest tigers’. In the last four decades numbers of Sumatran tigers have fallen from 1,000 to around 300.

They were born on February 3 and arrived within an hour of each other. The first arrived at 12:28am, the second at 12:59am, and the last was delivered at 1:18am, with keepers monitoring the whole birth using remote camera technology.

The births comes less than six months after the death of the zoo's first Sumatran tiger cub in 17 years. It was found drowned on the edge of a pool inside an enclosure, aged just two weeks old.

Watch the first moments of new-born tiger cubs

Zookeeper Teague Stubbington said: “We couldn’t be more delighted with our new arrivals, and with how Melati is responding to her three cubs.

“We’ve been observing them 24/7, and one of us is always on duty to keep an eye on the little ones throughout the night. We’ve even been able to observe key milestones like their eyes opening and their tentative first steps.

“While we still don’t know whether they’re boys or girls, we’re starting to see their personalities develop. We’ve nicknamed one Trouble, as it’s much bolder than the others – it was the first to start exploring its den and we’ve spotted it waking up its siblings when they fall asleep!”

Share this articleComments

You might also like

'Tearing this nation apart': Coastal erosion tears away homes in eastern England

UK migrant barge sparks debate on asylum seeker treatment

England footballing great Sir Bobby Charlton dies at 86