In our picture from mid-January are the five white and snow tiger cubs.

A white tiger gave birth to five young (two white and three snow cubs) on December 24, 2006 at the Xiangjiang Zoo in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province. The births add valuable numbers to a species on the very brink of extinction which is in part due to the fact that snow tigers are attacked by a variety of other animals.    

The snow tiger is obviously a close relative of the white tiger and there are only 200 remaining worldwide. It's named snow tiger because of its absolutely white fur although it does have faint brown markings on its forehead, chest and tail.

The newly-born cubs' parents are both white tigers but their grandmother is of the snow variety. Grandmother's genes have been inherited by the cubs.

They opened their eyes for the first time on the morning of January 2. Zookeepers say the cubs are now under 24-hour care in a specially-made incubator and fed every four hours with a US-imported milk powder.

The cubs won't be up on their feet until they're one-month old, explained the zookeepers.

(China.org.cn on January 17, 2007)