Cute! White lioness bears 3 cubs in Argentina

[January 06, 2011]  BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) -- Zookeepers in Buenos Aires showed off triplets Wednesday -- three white cubs born to a pair of white lions imported from South Africa.

Zoo officials say the two females and a male were born Nov. 16 and are the first white lions to be born in South America. Children who visit the zoo this Argentine summer can take part in a contest to name them.

"We're very proud. There aren't many white lions born in zoos," veterinarian Miguel Rivolta told AP Television News.

Since both parents are white, their cubs each have the recessive genes that make them pure white, he explained.

Zoo visitors were loving their debut on Wednesday. The cubs' mother, not so much. She growled at the crowd and carried one of the cubs off in her mouth.

[Associated Press]

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