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Rare set of Sumatran tiger cub twins born at London Zoo

By Daniel Uria
ZSL London Zoo's endangered Sumatran tigress Melati gave birth to twin cubs on Monday. The zoo shared video from its "cubcam" video monitoring system, which showed the cubs bonding with Melati and with their father, Jae Jae. 
 Screen capture/ZSL - Zoological Society of London/YouTube
ZSL London Zoo's endangered Sumatran tigress Melati gave birth to twin cubs on Monday. The zoo shared video from its "cubcam" video monitoring system, which showed the cubs bonding with Melati and with their father, Jae Jae. Screen capture/ZSL - Zoological Society of London/YouTube

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LONDON, June 30 (UPI) -- A set of rare Sumatran tiger cub twins were born at London Zoo on Monday.

The zoo shared video of the cubs to announce the birth of "two of the world's rarest tigers" on Thursday.

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"This is exciting news for the Sumatran tiger, a flagship species for the ZSL conservation program in Indonesia," ZSL London Zoo Indonesia country manager Andjar Rafiastanto said.

The first of the cubs was born to 7-year-old female Sumatran tiger Melati at 9:19 a.m. Monday, with the second one arriving at 10:02 a.m. The pregnancy lasted 108 days.

"We're overjoyed with our new arrivals, and with how Melati is responding to her two cubs," assistant curator of mammals Teague Stubbington said.

Zoo staff monitored the endangered baby tigers and their mother using a remote camera system nicknamed "cubcam."

"The cubcam allows us to observe the youngsters 24/7 while not disturbing mum or dad at all, which is ideal while they get to know their babies," Stubbington said. "One of us is always on duty to keep an eye on the little ones throughout the night. Dad Jae Jae has also been spotted taking a peek at his new-borns!"

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