In our picture from mid-January are the five white and snow
tiger cubs.
A white tiger gave birth to five young (two white and three snow
cubs) on December 24, 2006 at the Xiangjiang Zoo in Guangzhou,
south China's Guangdong Province. The births add valuable
numbers to a species on the very brink of extinction which is in
part due to the fact that snow tigers are attacked by a variety of
other animals.
The snow tiger is obviously a close relative of the white tiger
and there are only 200 remaining worldwide. It's named snow tiger
because of its absolutely white fur although it does have faint
brown markings on its forehead, chest and tail.
The newly-born cubs' parents are both white tigers but their
grandmother is of the snow variety. Grandmother's genes have been
inherited by the cubs.
They opened their eyes for the first time on the morning of
January 2. Zookeepers say the cubs are now under 24-hour care in a
specially-made incubator and fed every four hours with a
US-imported milk powder.
The cubs won't be up on their feet until they're one-month old,
explained the zookeepers.
(China.org.cn on January 17, 2007)
