Baby white tiger born prematurely, taken in by zoo director

Germany's Aschersleben Zoo is home to more than 100 animal species, but the flavour of the month is a two month-old white tiger cub. The cub has been making its debut appearance at the zoo this week.

The cuddly animal which owes its striped white fur to a genetic condition was already compared to Germany's famous ice bear Knut.



The director of Aschersleben zoo, Dietmar Reisky kept his new star secret for the first eight weeks, due to the low chance of survival.

The tiger's mother gave birth prematurely to four tiger babies on April 5th, with each weighing 800 grams. That's less than half of the usual weight of a new born Bengal Tiger.



Only one tiger cub survived after the parents failed to take care of their babies.

Zoo director Reisky took the white tiger cub home where he and his wife have been taking care of the recent addition who has been showing a healthy appetite and is now weighing a sturdy four kilograms.

There's another video and photo gallery here.