Two rare tiger cubs have been born in Blijdorp Zoo in Rotterdam. They have been named after a Dutch footballer.

The cubs belong to the Sumatran tiger family, of which there are only around 300 worldwide. The World Wildlife Fund says the species could become extinct within ten years.

The cubs were born on 21 May, at first there were three, but one died shortly after birth. The two tigers are another success story for the breeding programmes for rare species at Dutch zoos.

Godfather
The two cubs have been named Gio and Vanni – the first name of Dutch-Moluccan footballer Giovanni van Bronckhorst. The captain of the Dutch Squad in the World Cup last summer in South Africa has become their godfather.

The zoo says the cubs have a lot in common with the footballer. They are born in the Netherlands but have their roots in Indonesia, a former Dutch colony.