JOHOR BARU: A playful female tiger cub and her male sibling have become the latest additions to the Johor Zoo here, which currently has three adult tigers.

Born on Oct 1, the two cubs are the offsprings of Jeli and Juli, two Malayan tigers which have been staying at the  zoo for the past five years.

Zoo manager Zakaria Razali said the tiger cubs had yet to be officially named.

However,  zookeepers had affectionately called the female cub “Cuping” and the male, “Gambit”.

“Gambit was unfortunately born quite weak and could hardly stand.

“We are giving him the best medical attention available.

“We just could not bear to put him down in spite of his condition,” Zakaria said.

The cubs were removed from their parents only recently.

They are  fed a diet of minced chicken meat mixed with calcium and milk every two hours.

Zakaria said these were not Juli’s first cubs.

“The zoo welcomed the arrival of three tiger cubs, also delivered by Juli, at the beginning of the year.

“But all three died shortly after birth. Since this is  Juli’s second delivery, she is   more experienced and also caring.

“When the cubs are bigger, it is not likely that we will keep them in the same cage as their parents as tigers are different from lions.

“Three months ago, one of our female lions gave birth to four cubs.

“They are now all living together as one family unit, but tigers do not live in prides.”