Four rare white tiger cubs born in Ukrainian zoo

KIEV, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Safari Zoo in Ukraine's southern Azov Sea resort of Berdyansk said on Wednesday it has welcomed the birth of four rare white tiger cubs.

"There are only about 200 white tigers in the world. This is incredibly rare endangered species," Igor Kalchenko, the director of the zoo, told local media.

The gender of the quadruplets, who were born on Monday, is still unknown as their mother Azira is keeping her cubs protected from zoo employees. The white tiger is a variant of the Bengal tiger, whose fur color is caused by the lack of the pigment pheomelanin.

Last year, Azira tigress delivered a litter of three cubs -- two males and a female. Enditem