The Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, Florida invites the public to see its beautiful new white tiger cubs. The cubs are only seven weeks old, so get over to Tampa for a first hand look at these Tiger Tots!
Photographs by Robert La Follette
A pair of
seven-week-old white tiger cubs born at Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo are
beginning to explore their exhibit with mother, “Nikki,” in the zoo’s
Asian Gardens area. The family is doing well, with mother and cubs
spending most of their first weeks together off exhibit for their
safety and privacy in bonding. As the cubs have grown and matured, zoo
staff has begun the process of offering access to the outdoor yard for
short intervals as the family establishes a new pattern of behavior.
This
is the second litter for experienced mom Nikki while living at Tampa’s
Lowry Park Zoo. The newest cubs, a boy and a girl, were born the
morning of October 4 weighing about 3.6 and 2.5 pounds respectively on their first veterinary check-up. The zoo’s adult white male tiger, “Yala,” is Nikki’s mate and sired the new cubs.
The
zoo’s Asia keepers have monitored mother and the newborn cubs closely
since birth, and report that Nikki is a very attentive is nursing
routinely. The cubs are now well-bonded with mom and are moving about
with improving motor skills. Although
the mother and father are an established couple, the adult male will be
separated for the time being for the safety of the cubs.
The
gestation period for tigers is three to four months, or approximately
110 days. The average litter is two or three cubs which weigh about
two pounds at birth. Cubs are born with their eyes shut and helpless,
relying entirely on their mother for the first three months and nursing
for many more. The survival of the cubs will be dependent upon the
mother’s ability to care and nurture them, the cubs’ ability to fight
any infections association with normal birth, and the success of
weaning and independence.
White tigers
originate from Bengal tigers. They are not albinos and they are not a
separate subspecies of tiger. They have blue eyes, a pink nose and
white fur covered with chocolate-colored stripes. White tigers are
born to tigers that carry the unusual gene needed for white coloring.
Wild white tigers are very rare, because their white coats provide poor
camouflage, making them easily spotted by prey.
Public
viewing of the Zoo’s newest white wonders will be limited to morning
initially as the cubs continue to grow and mature. Mother and cubs
will rotate on exhibit with their white tiger father, Yala.
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