NORFOLK, Va. (WVEC) -- I trained with veterinarian technician Leah Rooker from the Virginia Zoo.
Leah has the job of feeding the little 7-week-old Malayan tiger cubs and narrating that task to those who peer through the glass.
"It's a cool job. Where else would you be able to walk out and see a tiger or an elephant or a lion? All the different animals that we have here, to be able to work on all of them is amazing," she said.
Leah even let me, her trainee, hold the bottle for the little cub. Their mother did not accept them so vet techs like Leah are stepping in.
These are critically endangered Malayan Tiger cubs born right here at the Virginia Zoo last month.
"So, not something that happens very often. There's less than 300 of them in the world, so it's a very unique opportunity for us, which we're really trying to share with our visitors and bring visitors in close," said executive director Greg Bockheim.
Right now, the cubs are at 55 days being cared for in the veterinarian hospital on the zoo's grounds. When they reach 84 days, they hope to be weaned and ready to move to the Asian exhibit at the zoo.