Three rare white Bengal cubs in Czech zoo to be named (VIDEO)
Residents of the Czech city of Liberec can now not only “ooh” and “ah” over three rare white Bengal tiger cubs happily playing next to their mother. They have a chance to choose a name for one of the cubs, recently born in the city’s zoo.
By Wednesday afternoon the voters should choose from five options for a male cub – Liam, Samburu, Sigmar, Titan or Woody – short-listed from more than 2,200 suggestions. The other two – male and female – will be named by the zoo employees.
The cubs were born just two months ago to mother Surya Bara. They have already made some public appearances. It is just the second time the Czech Republic’s oldest zoo – the only zoo in central Europe to have white tigers – has bred the species.
A 7-year-old white tigress Isabella, born in the zoo, was killed by two lions back in 2009 when they entered her enclosure. The zoo workers were alerted by the tiger’s cries, but were unable to stop the killing.Births among the species are a very rare occurrence in the wild, and happen mostly in captivity. They do not survive long in the wild as due to their coloring they stand out in the jungle, hindering their efforts to catch prey.White Bengal tigers are neither albino nor a separate subspecies. Instead, they are a result of a rare recessive gene. They are fully grown at two to three years of age and live for up to 15 years in the wild.
