Three Bengal tigers born at Yangon zoo

Myanmar has the world's largest number of tigers after India.

Three Bengal tigers were born at the Yangon zoo -- the third new litter since September, a zoo official said on Monday.

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"The cubs were born on April 29, but we cannot yet identify their genders because we don't want to go too close to the mother," said Saw Win, administrator at the Yangon Zoological Garden.

He said authorities would not go near the mother until next week because they do not want to frighten her.

The mother of the litter, Noah Noah, also gave birth in September to three tigers, one of which died of dehydration a month ago. The newborn cubs have not yet been named.

With two cubs born by another tigress, Pinky, also in September, there are a total of seven tiger cubs in the zoo, Saw Win said. Myanmar, which has the world's largest number of tigers after India, is home to two species -- the Bengal and the Indochinese.

Myanmar's tiger population has plunged drastically to 150 or fewer in the wild in recent years from an estimated 3,000 nearly 25 years ago.