Siberian tiger cubs flourish in Chinese breeding centers

As of Thursday, 18 Siberian tiger cubs have been born at the Siberian Tiger Park in Harbin and the Hengdaohezi Siberian Tiger Park in Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang province.

The parks are two of three run by the China Hengdaohezi Feline Breeding Center, the world's largest facility for these rare tigers. The third is in Shenyang, Liaoning province.

The mating season for Siberian tigers usually falls in January and February, and the birthing season runs from early April to late June.

Half a month after their birth, five tiger cubs, including three males and two females, are getting stronger at Hengdaohezi Siberian Tiger Park.

"Their mothers - three young tigers, have no experience of nursing cubs, so the breeders took on the task of feeding the cubs," said Zang Yingying, a breeder at the park. "The cubs' body temperature dropped rapidly as their mothers did not take care of them after giving birth, so they had to be sent to the incubators."

After days of careful nurturing, the five cubs are in good health and have been removed from the incubators.

"Their average weight has climbed from about 1.3 kilograms each when they were born to more than 2 kg," said Zang.

The birth of the first Siberian tiger twins on February 15 raised the number of baby tigers born at Harbin's Siberian Tiger Park to 13 this year.

"There are now four pregnant tigers awaiting delivery," said Li Dapeng, deputy director of the park's breeding and veterinary medicine department. "We expect the birth of more than 20 tiger cubs this year."