A trio of fluffy cubs, born to seven-year-old tigress Karla, made their debut at Tobu Zoo in Tokyo, captivating crowds with their playful antics.
These cuddly bundles, measuring 11 to 16 inches long and weighing just 11 pounds, quickly became the center of attention, with visitors patiently queuing for over an hour to glimpse them.
White Bengal tigers, with their striking appearance due to a rare genetic anomaly, have always been exceptionally rare in the wild.
However, their unique coloration has made them sought-after attractions in zoos and circuses worldwide. The birth of these cubs adds to the global population of around 250 white tigers.
Hundreds of visitors eagerly lined up to admire the new arrivals. Yūsuke Terada, an architect, expressed his delight, saying, “Seeing such tiny babies, I became thrilled.
And when I saw three baby tigers playing and their mother watching over them nearby, I thought, what a lovely family.”
The cubs, one female, and three males, are still nursing but are beginning to show interest in the meat their mother prefers.
White tigers, a recessive mutation of the Bengal tiger, share many physical traits with their standard counterparts but tend to be larger.
While hundreds have been bred in captivity, conservationists argue that efforts should prioritize less inbred tiger varieties, also threatened with extinction.
Meanwhile, the cubs’ father, Rocky, is adjusting to his newfound fatherhood, having recently seen his offspring for the first time from his neighboring enclosure.
“He only has the memory of just Karla being there, so at first, he had an expression on his face like, ‘What are these? Something foreign to me is here,’” explained zookeeper Hiroki Itakura. “I believe that perhaps he doesn’t yet even recognize them as fellow white tigers.”
