Three Rare Sumatra Tiger Cubs Born in London Zoo [VIDEO]

The London Zoo recently welcomed three rare newly born Sumatran tigers to its feline family. The early movements of the trio are being captured with hidden cameras.

The as-yet unsexed triplets were born in the early hours of morning on February 3, 2014, to five year old Sumatran tigress Melati and six year old dad Jae Jae. The triplets entered the world after 106-day pregnancy were born within an hour of each other. The first cub was born at 12.28 am, the second cub was born at 12.59 am and the last one arrived at 1.18 am.

The mother and her triplets are under constant monitoring. The entire birthing was also monitored via remote camera technology. The zoo keepers have placed the family in a special cubbing dens.

Melati, described by the zoo officials as intelligent and a careful cat, is being a good mother as it is on very rare occasions that she ventures away from her cubs for food. Last year she lost her cub, who was the first cub to be born in 17 years. The cub was found drowned in a pool in a tiger enclosure.

Zookeeper Teague Stubbington said in a statement, "We couldn't be more delighted with our new arrivals, and with how Melati is responding to her three cubs. We've been observing them 24/7, and one of us is always on duty to keep an eye on the little ones throughout the night. We've even been able to observe key milestones like their eyes opening and their tentative first steps..."

The cubs have passed a milestone as the zookeepers notice some development in their personalities. One of the nicknamed Trouble is seen to be bolder than the other siblings and was the first among the trio to explore the den. Trouble is also seen waking up its siblings when they fall asleep. These cubs are world's rarest tigers.

Melati was living with Jae Jae in the new exhibit Tiger Territory that was inaugurated by Prince Phillip last year.

The estimated the population of Sumatran tiger in the wild is below 300. This birth of these cubs is a great achievement for the ZSL London Zoo as well the global breeding program that work towards the recovery of these critically endangered species.

The zoo visitors will have to wait to have a look of the cubs in real. But they can watch dad Jae Jae in his Tiger Territory.

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