A 26-month-old female tiger in a local zoo in Shenyang, capital city of northeast China's Liaoning Province, recently gave birth to three cubs, a bit earlier than it is regarded to be mature.

Experts say tigers normally become mature at the age of 28 months.

Both the mother, "Sibao", and the father, "Wubao", are at a premature age,according to a staff of the zoo,dubbed as Shenyang Strange Slope Tigers' Garden. The young parents have lived together since they were cubs.

Tigers at the age of 26 months are equal to human beings aged between 14-15 years, according to local experts.

Zoo workers didn't notice that the mother tiger was pregnant until it delivered the cubs. One of the cubs, the only female among the three, was too thin, only 1.1 kg,and died shortly after birth for catching cold.

The two male cubs are now in good conditions.But they are fed once every three hour with milk power, since their mother has no milk of its own. A female dog is expected to arrive at the zoo soon to breast-feed the two cubs,zoo staff said.

The zoo was opened on July 23,2000. The survival of the two cubs has increased the total number of tigers in the zoo to 23.

(Xinhua 06/01/2001)