Libyan Zoo Welcomes Its First-Ever White Tiger Cub

Tripoli: Tripoli Zoo in Libya welcomes the birth of its first-ever white tiger cub. The newborn was abandoned by its mother and has been put in an incubator for special care. "This was her very first baby, so she rejected him," says Wassim Ali, a keeper at the zoo. "He's the first newborn in the zoo. The reason we've given him special care is that his mother had just given birth for the very first time and this was her very first baby, so she rejected him, " Ali says. "We therefore had to put him in an incubator and specially look after him so that he would receive constant attention, for 24 hours," he adds. Ali says that birth within a zoo plays an essential role in ensuring the development of the animals and preserving biodiversity."They also allow visitors to observe how the animals evolve, their diets, as well as their daily activities with us, while guaranteeing them the necessary care and health monitoring," he adds. Tripoli Zoo is Libya's largest zoological and botanical garden, which officially reopened in March 2026 after a 17-year closure. White tigers are extremely rare in the wild, occurring in an estimated 1 in every 10,000 tiger cub births, and are considered functionally extinct in natural habitats. A white tiger is a rare colour variation of the Bengal tiger caused by a recessive genetic mutation, not a separate species or an albino. For a cub to be white, both parents must carry and pass down the rare recessive gene.