Rare Amur cubs have celebrated their first birthday at Longleat Safari Park.
The four tigers named Heidi, Seeka, Dora-Boo and Ginger Biscuit are the second litter for mum Yana and dad Red.
Their birth was important for the international tiger breeding programme as the species is currently listed as endangered, with only around 450 left in the world. At the time, the cubs’ arrival at Longleat equated to over 25% of births across Europe in the previous two years.
To celebrate the animals’ first birthday, keepers created a frozen meat and ostrich egg cake – complete with sardines for candles. It was devoured in minutes by the excited cubs.
Caleb Hall, lead keeper, said, “The cubs are about two thirds the weight and size of mum and growing fast; Heidi is the largest at around 70-75kg and the smallest is Dora-Boo at approximately 60-65kg. It’s hard to believe they were just 700gm when they were born.
“They all enjoy playing, being in the pond splashing and swimming and having naps in the sun which Yana appreciates as its tiring raising and looking after the four.”
The young tigers eat around 12kg of meat each week.
Longleat currently boasts the biggest family of Amur tigers to be seen on safari in the UK.
Pictured: Tigers! Picture credit Tom Anders
