Idiom inspires names for zoo's tiger cubs
The tiger cub quadruplets
Tiger cubs
Four South China Tiger cubs born in July at the Shanghai Zoo in Changning District finally have names via public suggestion, the zoo announced on Friday.
The quadruplets are named Lu Zhu, Lu Yuan, Lu Yu and Lu Run, the zoo announced.
They are named after their mother Lu Lu, while in Chinese, zhu yuan yu run is an idiom meaning "round as pearls and smooth as jade," signifying their plump figures.
The zoo said it had received more than 500 names from the public since last week, all bearing auspicious significance, and the final names were given by a netizen.
A tiger cub takes anthelmintic drug.
Tiger cub
The cubs are female and were born on July 4. The largest weighs 5.5 kilograms.
They are very active, animal keepers said.
They are growing healthily and have already started nibbling on beef, though their main feed is still milk.
Their father is Ma Si, born in Luoyang City, Henan Province, in 2014. Their mother Lu Lu is 6 years old; this was her first delivery. Both arrived at the zoo in 2018.
A tiger cub takes anthelmintic drug.
The South China Tiger is almost extinct in the wild and there are only about 180 of them living at zoos across China.
The local zoo, home to 24 South China Tigers at present, started breeding the species in 1958. It has a research base for the protection of rare animals, including tigers.
