White Tiger Cubs Are Good News for Zoo

Four rare white tiger cubs are born in a Yalta zoo in southern Ukraine.

Published

about 1 year ago

Categories

Science, Wildlife

Topics

Wildlife

Places

Ukraine

Tags

animal, tigers, white tigers, zoo

Transcript

PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS CONVERTED 4:3 MATERIALStill unnamed but thriving, four white tiger cubs were born in a Ukraine zoo.And vet Sergei Trofimov says that's very rare.SOUNDBITE: Sergei Trofimov, Skazka Zoo veterinarian, saying (Russian):"Four kittens from a cat is very rare. Why? Because, as a rule they give birth to two, maximum three. In this case we have four."Zoo director Oleg Zubkov says there are only around 100 white tigers in the world, so the birth of four in captivity is a big deal.SOUNDBITE: Sergei Trofimov, Skazka Zoo veterinarian, saying (Russian):"We've had the birth of four wonderful baby (tigers). One of them is actually an albino. Usually tigers are white with black stripes, but you also get albinos without stripes. This is a wonderful event for the zoo, we were waiting for it impatiently and we're glad that the cubs are healthy, strong, and are being tended by zoo staff."The mother's name is 'Tigrulya' in honor of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who donated the tigress to the zoo in 2009 after it was given to her at an event.A contest is being held to finds names for the cubs.Tara Cleary, Reuters.