Rare tiger cubs make public debut

The white tiger cubs are the first to be born in captivity in the UK

Two rare white tiger cubs have been born at West Midlands Safari Park.

It is the first time the rare breed of Bengal tiger has been born in captivity in Britain.

The male and female cubs - named Khan and Charu - weighed in at 600 grams and 400 grams respectively when they were delivered at the end of May.

The cubs, who are housed in the Bewdley park's White Tiger Conservation Centre, now weigh nine kilos and are eating solid meals.

Hand-reared

Their mother, Tikva, and father, Tahaas, arrived at the park in 1998 from Sweden.

Keepers at the park were able to monitor Tikva's 18-week gestation and birth on in-house CCTV cameras in the £250,000 tiger facility which opened days before the cubs were born.

Although Tikva was unable to feed the cubs herself, keepers took over and began to hand-rear them feeding them round the clock at four-hourly intervals.

Head warden Bob Lawrence said it had been a "wonderful experience".

"It's been a labour of love. At the start of the year the talk of the town was the white lions, now we have the white tigers - it's been a hell of a year."

It is thought that there are only around 150 white tigers left in the wild.