White Tiger Cubs Explore New Exhibit at Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo Tampa, FL (June 26, 2007) - For the past two months, since their birth in April, two tiger cubs at Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo have only been seen in online video and photos at the zoo’s website. The newest ambassadors will be making their first public appearance very shortly. A celebration will be held on Saturday July 14th with more details to come. In the meantime, Alex & Ashley, as they have been named at the zoo, have begun to start exploring their new home at Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo with daily visits into the tiger exhibit located in the Asian Gardens area of the zoo. The cubs are escorted by mom, Nikki, each time they go out and will remain with Nikki in the exhibit for at least one year, if not longer. Although the two adult white tigers are an established couple, the male will be separated from the female for the time being for the safety of the cubs. Currently, the exhibit is being blocked off to guests to give mom and her cubs privacy during this time of transition. The cubs represent the offspring litter between 10-year-old mother Nikki and 9-year-old father Yala. The two adult white tigers, arrived at the zoo in mid-January. Zoo staff had been advised that it was possible the female was pregnant due to breeding observed at the tigers’ prior home, but zoo animal care staff restricted observations to non-invasive techniques to minimize stress on the animal during her transition period. Zoo animal care staff conducts routine check-ups with the mother voluntarily separated from the cubs during this time. During the check-ups, the cubs are weighed, vitals statistics taken and development observations noted.