WEST BEND, Wis. — The Shalom Wildlife Zoo in West Bend welcomed four tiger cubs, one week after their birth, the little cubs have garnered hundreds of thousands of views on the zoo's social media platforms.
From the highway, you might recognize billboards of a Bengal tiger named Ginger. She's the star of Shalom Wildlife Zoo and now she's a mother of four.
Two of the four are rare — one white and golden. Zoo co-owner David Fechter said there are only 200 white tigers left and even fewer golden tigers.
"I'm just truly amazed that they're right here in Wisconsin," Tricia Heidel-Harte said. She follows Ginger's journey on Shalom's Facebook page and came out to see the mother tiger and cubs in-person.
Watch: Shalom Wildlife Zoo welcomes four tiger cubs; two are rare varieties
"We've been watching the whole ordeal on Facebook, even showing her the videos of the tigers, " Heidel-Harte's sister Kathy Weston said while holding their young great-niece Gwen. "She's just been so excited to see them."
Fechter feels a sense of pride and honor to update Ginger's fans online, something he said she would only trust him to do. She only allows Fechter to hold her cubs, weigh them and get up close with the camera.
"Tigers demand respect," he said. "If I didn't respect her, she would never respect me. So, I try to always respect her. I try to read her body language. What are you telling me today?"
Fechter said in about two weeks, the cubs should weigh 15 pounds, that's when he expects them to venture out from their barn and into the outdoors, where people can then get a better glance.
"I just think it's a beautiful thing," he said. "That people get to see something like this."
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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