White tiger cub makes debut in central China zoo

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A captive-bred white tiger cub recently made its debut to visitors in a zoo in the city of Luoyang in central China's Henan Province.

The baby tiger was born into the Wangcheng Park Zoo in June last year, and breeders have been taking good care of the precious young cub.

White Bengal tiger cubs. /VCG Photo

After passing through the awkward stages of its early development, the vivacious six-month-old cub now loves to run about freely in its enclosure, much to the delight of zoo visitors.

"The cub is now meeting its fans coming to our zoo, and it is in great health," said Liu Zhaoyang, deputy curator of the zoo.

Currently, the zoo is home to six adult white tigers and has built practical experience on the preservation of these endangered big cats.

A white Bengal tiger. /VCG Photo

"Two of our white tigers have entered the breeding season. In fact, a white tiger baby was just born here. So as time goes by, all the tiger cubs will grow and enter their breeding season one day, which means the number of these endangered cats will get bigger in the future," said Liu.

The white tiger is an extremely rare pigmentation variant of the Bengal tiger. Wild white tigers have died out and most of the existing white tigers, of which there are only about 200 left on the earth, are bred and raised by humans.