Two Siberian tiger cubs born in Riga zoo

Two Siberian tiger cubs were born at the Riga Zoo this summer.

Thor and Odin were born last Summer and have already grown into young men.

The tiger cubs were born to the female Siberian tiger Katrina, who gave birth to her first three cubs in 2011. However, agitated from the street noises, Katrina refused to feed her newborn cubs, so the only survivor - Klifs - was raised by the zookeepers. 

Tiger cubs will not be available for zoo visitors for a while, but from November 27, every day from 10 am to 1 pm anyone, who will want to see the cubs, will be able to watch them online from the zoo by visiting the Lattelecom homepage.

Tiger cubs were named in honor of the Norse gods - the thunder and fertility god Thor and Odin - the king of gods and god of war. Thor is the biggest of the two tiger cubs - on November 14 he weighed 15.2 kilograms, but his brother Odin - two kilograms less.

The Siberian tiger is the largest and one of the most endangered tiger subspecies in then world. The main threats to this subspecies are poaching and deforestation. Now, wild Siberian tigers can only be found in the Russian Far East and China. 

Currently there are less than 500 wild Siberian tigers and there is a risk that in the coming decades this species could become extinct in the wild. Approximately 200 Siberian tigers are being kept in zoos around the world, LETA reports. 

There is an international breeding program for tigers; the Riga Zoo is also participating in this program. Although not all tigers are valuable for breeding, Riga Zoo tiger couple is considered among the best, which means that their descendants are highly desirable and their birth is an important contribution to the species conservation program.