Reports from China say one of the world's thirty remaining South China tigers has given birth to three cubs.

The China's official news agency said two of the cubs survived, but the third subsequently died.

It said the births were an important boost to the South China tiger population.

The fourteen-year-old mother was the first tiger in China to undergo a Caesarian operation.

The operation was carried out in a special reserve where eight of the remaining South China tigers live.