A Bengal and a Siberian Tiger Give Birth to Three Cubs Telegraph UK
go to original April 12, 2012

Jaguar Zoo in southern Mexico has three new members, a litter of half-Bengal, half-Siberian tiger cubs born on 3 April.

The zoo, 26 miles south east of the city of Oaxaca, mated their 12-year-old Siberian male tiger named Yagul with an eight-year-old female Bengal tiger, Yaki, to produce the litter of three.

"Despite being from two different subspecies, the cross-mating was done successfully and the cubs are in good condition," said the zoo's veterinarian, Felipe Ramirez Sanchez.

Although the zoo lacks a specific breeding programme for the critically endangered Siberian tigers, also known as Amur tigers, Ramirez said that they hope to find a Siberian female to mate with Yagul to produce fully Siberian cubs.

"The Siberian tiger species is in danger of extinction. Currently there are fewer than 2,000 of them in the wild," he noted, saying also that they will start searching for a Siberian mate in other Mexican zoos. Bengal tigers are more numerous and are only considered threatened," he said.

The zoo receives around a thousand visitors each week and features 70 animals from 50 different species.

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