Adorable Newborn Tiger Cubs’ First Days Of Life At Columbus Zoo: Watch

COLUMBUS, OH — If you need a dose of adorable to take your mind off the Russian election-meddling investigation, the stifling heat and humidity, and O.J. Simpson’s prison release, the Columbus Zoo has just the thing to melt away the stress and anxiety: The soothing video captured by a remote camera trained on an endangered Amur tiger and her cubs, born overnight July 12-13.

Video on the zoo’s Facebook page shows mom Mara’s cubs nuzzling, nursing, meowing and playing during their first few days of life, offering zoo fans an advance glimpse of the newborns. They’ll remain behind the scenes in their den with Mara for several more weeks.

Mara, who appears to be enjoying a blissful nap, is an old hand at this. The cubs are her third litter since arriving at the Columbus Zoo in 2007. Until they’re a little older and ready for the equivalent of a well-baby checkup, the zoo staff won’t know their gender.

The papa tiger is Jupiter, selected for breeding based on a recommendation in the Amur tiger Species Survival Plan, an Association of Zoos and Aquariums program to manage zoo tiger populations and ensure genetic diversity.

Amur tigers, which are also called Siberian tigers, are the largest of the big cats. Their populations are also among the most imperiled in the wild. The International Union for Conservation and Nature, which tracks the decline of species in the wild, lists them as endangered. (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Cincinnati Patch, or click here to find your local Ohio Patch. Follow us on Facebook, and if you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Overhunting of prey species such as deer and wild boar, habitat loss and poaching for skins and body parts used in traditional Chinese medicine are decimating populations of Amur tigers. Only about 400 remain in their home ranges in the forests of the Russian Far East, according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

The Columbus Zoo is a longtime supporter of the Siberian Tiger Project established in 1992 by the Wildlife Conservation Society and has raised $200,000 for conservation efforts, according to a press release from the zoo.

Photo of a young Amur tiger cub by China Photos/Getty Images News/Getty Images