A safari park in Belogorsk, Crimea invited visitors to pet and play with Siberian tiger and white lion cubs as part of an event to raise awareness about the protection of wild animals. "We are against hunting. Today everyone can try to pet wonderful, rare animals just like this, and to understand that they are unique to their kind and they should be protected," said Oleg Zubkov, director of Taigan safari park.

Six Siberian tiger cubs and eight white lion babies were presented to the visitors and children were particularly excited to touch the little animals. Siberian tigers are considered an endangered species, with only 500 of the world's northern-most tigers left in the Russian far east. According to Zubkov, white lions are also rare with only about 100 animals alive worldwide.

The event left visitors notably impressed. Anastasiya Fetisova, who visited the park with her family said: "I think there can be no talk of hunting wild animals after communicating with them one on one."

Four white lion cubs and two of the tiger cubs were born at the zoo in July.

More about tigers