Triple treat for a rare species

Craig Busch with Rewa and her three cubs at the Zion Wildlife Gardens

The birth of three white tiger cubs in Whangarei has boosted the animal's fragile numbers worldwide - and helped save a fellow feline in the process.

The latest litter of royal white Bengal tigers at the Zion Wildlife Gardens run by "Lion Man" Craig Busch is crucial because the cats have been extinct in the wild since 1958, and only 120 survive in captivity worldwide.

With the three latest additions, Mr Busch now has seven in his Northland sanctuary.

He said two of the as-yet-unnamed cubs would be sent to a reserve at the Cradle of Humankind, a world heritage site in South Africa. The other cub would be kept at Zion for its breeding programme.

Sending the cubs will complete an agreement Mr Busch had with the South African reserve to exchange four white tigers with four white lions, which are a similarly endangered species.

Tigress Rewa's first litter of two are already in Africa, and her second litter of two males and a female, born on October 2, are doing well.

The cubs now weigh an average of 5.5kg, up from a birth weight of just 1.2kg. They are suckled and bottle-fed at the moment, but Mr Busch expects them to graduate to solids such as chicken in a fortnight.

Unlike the first birth, where Rewa rejected her cubs - quite common among first litters - "this time she was the best mother in the park".

Royal whites are a subspecies of India's Bengal tiger. A double recessive gene causes the animal's striking coloration of cinnamon stripes, blue eyes and pink noses.

Mr Busch said the public would be able to see the litter in a week's time, and the cubs would also have names by then.

The Whangarei big cat sanctuary is now home to the southernmost pride of white tigers and lions. The four white lions will play a vital role in the sanctuary's breeding programme, and for breeding programmes worldwide.

The lions originate in Southern Africa's Timbavati region, although, like white tigers, none exist any more in the wild.

The animal is not an albino nor a subspecies, but an African tawny lion with a recessive gene. Mr Busch said its origins were shrouded in mystery.

"It's always been a legend or myth - no one ever thought they were real. It's quite a big thing, really. In the African eye, the white lion is the most spiritual of all of Africa - a sacred animal, I should say."

Mr Busch said many people worldwide were trying to preserve these endangered creatures.

"The biggest thing is to teach people what's going wrong in the world. It's what we're here for."