White Tiger Quintuplets Require Two Mothers
- 13 years ago
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And, we told you recently about the white tiger quintuplets born in North China. Now it looks like an issue of milk supply has made this tiger family even larger.
These five snow tiger siblings were born on July 1st in the Siberian Tiger Park in Harbin, northeast China.
It was already a big family -- one proud mother, five rare cubs. And, of course, an absent father. But now it's gotten even bigger, as the cubs' biological mother is not producing enough milk to feed her five offspring; meaning a second mother was required.
[Wang Jingru, Snow Tiger Breeder]:
"The tiger mother does not produce enough milk for her five cubs, so the cubs have lost some weight. A tiger cub should usually gain about 50 grams of weight a day."
Five tiger siblings are rare enough -- the fact that they are white, and that they're "snow" tigers, makes them even rarer. So why not add another mother to the equation, just to be safe?
The cub's new mother is a seven-year-old Siberian tiger whose babies have been weaned off their mother's milk. Her responsibilities now include providing milk -- and affection -- for these darlings of the Chinese media.
So far, it looks like she's earned her stripes:
[Li Xin, Snow Tiger Breeder]:
"The cubs usually go to sleep after they eat their fill. Their bodies move slightly when they fall asleep, which shows that they are growing well."
And, we told you recently about the white tiger quintuplets born in North China. Now it looks like an issue of milk supply has made this tiger family even larger.
These five snow tiger siblings were born on July 1st in the Siberian Tiger Park in Harbin, northeast China.
It was already a big family -- one proud mother, five rare cubs. And, of course, an absent father. But now it's gotten even bigger, as the cubs' biological mother is not producing enough milk to feed her five offspring; meaning a second mother was required.
[Wang Jingru, Snow Tiger Breeder]:
"The tiger mother does not produce enough milk for her five cubs, so the cubs have lost some weight. A tiger cub should usually gain about 50 grams of weight a day."
Five tiger siblings are rare enough -- the fact that they are white, and that they're "snow" tigers, makes them even rarer. So why not add another mother to the equation, just to be safe?
The cub's new mother is a seven-year-old Siberian tiger whose babies have been weaned off their mother's milk. Her responsibilities now include providing milk -- and affection -- for these darlings of the Chinese media.
So far, it looks like she's earned her stripes:
[Li Xin, Snow Tiger Breeder]:
"The cubs usually go to sleep after they eat their fill. Their bodies move slightly when they fall asleep, which shows that they are growing well."