These adorable pictures show a newborn pair of rare Siberian tiger cubs helping claw the species' way back from extinction.
There are believed to be fewer than 1,000 of the critically endangered animals left worldwide, including just 526 in the wild.
The cubs, also known as Amur tigers, were born to four-year-old Minerva a fortnight ago at Woburn Safari Park, Bedford, and weighed about a kilogram each. Park keepers have not yet found out what sex they are.
“First-time mother Minerva is understandably protective of her new babies,” said a spokesman, “and everyone at the park is delighted that she has taken to motherhood brilliantly.”
Siberian tigers were driven to near-extinction by hunters and poachers, with numbers dwindling as low as 40 in the mid-20th Century.
Conservation slowly bumped up their number but they are still extremely rare.
Jo Cook, from the Amur Leopard and Tiger Alliance, told the BBC: “Maintaining a healthy captive population of Amur tigers in zoos and parks is important because they act as an insurance population and can be used for reintroductions should that become a necessary conservation action to support wild Amur tigers.”
When the cubs are big enough they will be moved into the nine-acre tiger reserve, Kingdom of the Carnivores.
