Lowry Welcomes Birth Of Two White Tiger Cubs

Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo recently welcomed the birth of two white tiger cubs.

The seven-week old cubs have already begun exploring their surroundings in the zoo’s Asian Gardens exhibit area. The cubs, along with their mother Nikki, spent the first weeks together off exhibit for their safety and privacy in boding.

According to Lowry Park Zoo staff, this is the second litter for Nikki while living at the facility. The newest cubs, a boy and a girl, were born the morning of Oct. 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 very attentive.

White tigers originate from Bengal tigers, according to Lowry Park Zoo. 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.