Endangered Tiger Cubs Debut

CHEN: Three tiger cubs from one of the world’s most endangered species debuted to the public yesterday at a South Korean zoo. Here’s a glimpse. STORY: These Siberian tiger cubs have no names yet, but they’re the third generation of the Tongil Tiger, meaning ‘tiger for unification.’ Their grandfather Ra-il was sent from North Korea’s Pyongyang Central Zoo in 1995 and their grandmother Hong-A was from one of South Korea’s zoos. The two male cubs and one female cub were born on July 9 to nine-year-old Chungjoo and her mate, five-year-old Koa. Since the tigress did not care for her cubs right after birth for unknown reasons, the breeders at the zoo had to look after and feed them from the very beginning. Visitors at the zoo were excited to see these new born tiger cubs. [Park Chul-woo, Visitor]: “I hope I can see many of these tigers in South Korea.” The Siberian tiger, native to northern China, southern Russia and parts of North Korea, is on the brink of extinction in the wild, disappearing through poaching and loss of habitat. Scientists believe only a few hundred now live outside captivity.