Putin gets tiger cub for birthday

MOSCOW, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Among the gifts Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin received for his 56th birthday, perhaps the most unusual is a Siberian tiger cub.

Putin showed the 2-month-old cub to reporters late Thursday on the veranda of his home in Moscow, The Daily Telegraph reported. He refused to say who had given him the cub.

The former president said he is still undecided on a name for the female and is considering Mashenka or Milashka.

Putin first told reporters not to make any noise and then displayed the cub, housed in a basket. He was photographed stroking the animal.

He said that the cub has not yet met Koni, his Labrador, who sometimes accompanies him to meetings.

The cub now weighs only 20 pounds. By the time she is full grown, she is likely to be living in a zoo or a wildlife preserve.

Putin recently shot a Siberian tiger with a tranquilizer dart to bring attention to a tracking program for the endangered animals.