'Excited' Polish zoo unveils rare Siberian tiger cubs

WARSAW: Staff at the zoo in the Polish town of Plock first noticed the sound, not the sight, of two Siberian tiger cubs born in late April, keeper Malgorzata Trzcinska said, introducing the first of the breed born in the country this year.

"The mother was very careful and very effectively hid them from our sight," Trzcinska said this week, adding that it was the cubs' distinctive meowing that gave them away. The breed is part of the European Endangered Species Programme, making the cubs' birth that much more "exciting," Trzcinska said. Only 23 Siberian tigers have been born in Europe in the last 12 months.