Feb. 9, 2007 — Three white tiger cubs just weeks old debuted Thursday at the Buenos Aires Zoo in Argentina, romping in pen before delighted children and their parents.
The cubs — two females and a male — were born Dec. 23 to Conde and Bety at the zoo in the Argentine capital, and had since been kept out of view.
"This is their first big day out," zoo spokeswoman Ana Maria Pirra told The Associated Press, adding the cubs were in good health.
Pirra said the cubs weighed about 2.2 pounds at birth and were gaining weight fast, with each now weighing about 13 pounds.
She said none of the cubs has yet been named, and that children — who watched with delight as the cubs cavorted playfully Thursday — deposited name suggestions in a box at the zoo, along with their contact information. The cubs' names will be chosen in a drawing in three months, she said.
"Each of the winners will be a godfather or godmother to a cub," Pirra said.
Conde and Bety had triplets in 2002, and two years later had another six cubs.
White tigers get their color from a recessive gene passed irregularly along the generations. The white fur is rare, but the tiger is not an endangered sub-species of tiger, a common misconception.
The animals are very rare in the wild, since their white fur makes them prime targets for hunters and predators.
In captivity, they are often bred parent to cub, or sibling to sibling, to increase the chances of offspring inheriting the recessive gene that gives them their prized white coloring.
