Three of the world's rarest tigers were born this week at the London Zoo's Tiger Territory.
The first footage revealed by the Zoological Society of London's (ZSL) hidden 'cubcam’ shows ten-year-old mum Gaysha giving birth and cleaning her three critically endangered Sumatran tiger cubs, followed by the cubs' father Asim approaching to meet his new family.
"We were a little bit suspicious that Gaysha may have been pregnant. We were hopeful. In the last few weeks we saw her belly start to increase in size, so we knew she was coming close to her term.
"So we set up a behind the scenes cubbing box for her with lots of straw and we set up a special ‘cubcam’ so we could keep a closer eye on what was going on. And we have been having nightly vigils," said ZSL Zookeeper Amy McKillop.
The Sumatran tigers, whose habitat is the jungles of Sumatra, Indonesia, are now classified as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals, 'facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild'.
Three of the world's rarest tigers were born this week at the London Zoo's Tiger Territory | Read more: https://t.co/Riw98zmcZt pic.twitter.com/Goblm6RRLe
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The ZSL say Sumatran tigers are the smallest and rarest of species in the world, with about 300 left in the wild. The tigers, estimated to be 1,000 in the 1970's, now face a daily battle for survival with threats of poaching, habitat loss and human-conflict.
"In the early hours of last Monday morning Gaysha started her contractions and we watched on the live camera as she gave birth to one, then two, then three beautiful little tiger cubs, " added McKillop.
The Zoo is using a special ‘cubcam’ to keep a close eye on the tiger family.
"The three new arrivals are a welcome boost to the global breeding programme of these critically endangered Sumatran Tiger species, which is managed here at the ZSL."
