A pair of endangered Amur tiger cubs enjoy a water fight in their pond at Longleat Safari Park.
The year-old brother and sister cubs Rusty and Yuki are the first to have been born at the Wiltshire wildlife attraction for nearly 20 years, and form part of a European captive breeding programme for the subspecies.
Native to the far east of Russia, the Amur tiger is the largest of the big cats and can weigh up to 300 kg and measure more than three metres in length.
In the 1930s the tigers had nearly gone extinct in the wild due to hunting and logging. At one stage it is thought the population fell as low as just 20–30 animals.
Although they are still under severe threat, their status was officially changed from Critically Endangered to Endangered in 2007.
Wildlife experts believe the current population of around 540 individuals is the highest for more than a century.
There were once nine tiger subspecies, but three – the Bali, Caspian and Javan – became extinct during the 20th century.
Longleat opened the first drive through safari park outside of Africa back in 1966 and has been welcoming millions of visitors through its gates ever since.
