CCTV cameras installed in the tiger enclosure at Chester Zoo in England captured the moment a Sumatran tiger gave birth to two healthy cubs. It’s thought that just 350 of these beautiful animals are left in the wild, making them one of the rarest tiger breeds, so this adorable footage is even more amazing.
While some of us may have captured our pets doing some crazy things using a pet camera or an indoor security camera, capturing a rare species giving birth is a whole new excitement – especially for those working in tiger conservation. With CCTV constantly recording, the cubs' entire life has been captured on video – but there are so many uses for video and photos in conservation.
• These are the best cellular trail cameras – traps that send images straight to your phone
Trail cameras or camera traps are regularly used by organizations such as the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) as a way of recording data on a species' location, population and how they interact with each other without any human influence. With many traps able to send footage almost instantaneously, they don’t only track animals but can be used to fight against poaching.
If you're using a trail camera a little closer to home, you won't capture tigers or leopards but you might be surprised at how many creatures visit your garden at night. The best trail cameras use heat and motion sensors that are triggered when an animal steps into view, so there’s no trailing through hours of footage to find the good stuff.
The video captured by Chester Zoo is just the start of these young cubs' life, and as they grow older we can only hope that the zoo continues to keep us updated with their development. For more details on the zoo and its residents, visit the Chester Zoo website.
If you enjoyed this article, check out the best cameras for wildlife photography with a range of entry-level and top-spec cameras to suit all needs and budgets – and make sure to look at the best lenses for bird photography and wildlife, too!
